Farringdon Capital Ltd. Acquires New Holdings in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. 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 Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 45,650 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Itaú Unibanco by 23.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,586 shares of the bank's stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 4,823 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 23.3% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 24,959 shares of the bank's stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 4,720 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 43.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 178,697 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 54,172 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,899,587 shares of the bank's stock worth $174,930,000 after buying an additional 346,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,604,304 shares during the period.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE ITUB traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $6.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,673,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,995,576. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $5.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.25. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52 week low of $4.42 and a 52 week high of $6.30. The company has a market capitalization of $65.93 billion, a PE ratio of 7.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 12.25%. Research analysts anticipate that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

About Itaú Unibanco

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.