Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Shares Acquired by Blueshift Asset Management LLC

Blueshift Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 198.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 125,310 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,320 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $338,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604,304 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Itaú Unibanco by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,587,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $336,408,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886,508 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Itaú Unibanco by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 39,658,215 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $196,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,014 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,899,587 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,930,000 after acquiring an additional 346,390 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Itaú Unibanco by 12,592.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,484,343 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $156,171,000 after acquiring an additional 23,299,313 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ITUB shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. HSBC upgraded Itaú Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.18 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

NYSE ITUB opened at $5.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.85. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12-month low of $4.42 and a 12-month high of $6.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.28, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 12.25%. Research analysts expect that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.0527 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.56%.

Itaú Unibanco Profile

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA offers a range of financial products and services to individuals and corporate customers in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, and Activities with the Market + Corporation. It offers current account; loans; credit and debit cards; investment and commercial banking services; real estate lending services; financing and investment services; economic, financial and brokerage advisory; and leasing and foreign exchange services.