Dodge & Cox Raises Stock Holdings in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Dodge & Cox raised its position in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,621,005 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 1,058,400 shares during the quarter. Dodge & Cox owned approximately 0.17% of Itaú Unibanco worth $82,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Itaú Unibanco by 117.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 51,044,340 shares of the bank's stock valued at $253,180,000 after acquiring an additional 27,559,997 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,955,677 shares of the bank's stock valued at $54,340,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694,303 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 48,018,726 shares of the bank's stock valued at $238,173,000 after purchasing an additional 4,151,459 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 worth $338,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,604,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 9,269,375 shares of the bank's stock worth $45,976,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302,211 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ITUB shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $6.18 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Itaú Unibanco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Price Performance

Itaú Unibanco stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,231,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,984,600. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.34. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $4.42 and a fifty-two week high of $6.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.97 billion, a PE ratio of 7.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $5.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.25.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.0527 per share. This is an increase from Itaú Unibanco's previous dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Itaú Unibanco's payout ratio is presently 2.82%.

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.