D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Acquires Shares of 14,325,367 Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 14,325,367 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $71,054,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.15% of Itaú Unibanco at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank's stock valued at $338,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,604,304 shares in the last quarter. Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda boosted its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 96.8% during the fourth quarter. Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda now owns 2,540,200 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,599,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,200 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 487,867 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 13,681,494 shares of the bank's stock valued at $67,860,000 after purchasing an additional 51,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 52,900 shares of the bank's stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 5,845 shares in the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITUB traded down $0.06 on Thursday, hitting $6.59. 29,866,104 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,575,323. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1-year low of $4.42 and a 1-year high of $6.70. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $5.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.31. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $70.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.76.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The bank reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.02. Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $7.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.07 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.0024 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a yield of 0.46%. Itaú Unibanco's payout ratio is 2.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, UBS Group upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.27.

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.