Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Reduces Position in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Itau Unibanco stake by 12.7% in the first quarter, selling about 8.0 million shares. It still held 55.5 million shares worth roughly $464.9 million.
• Analysts remain constructive on ITUB, with JPMorgan raising its price target to $10 and the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating. The average price target is $10.00.
• Insider selling and dividend news also stood out: executive Vanzo Carlos Orestes sold 60,000 shares, while the company announced a special dividend of $0.068 per share payable September 8.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its position in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,481,880 shares of the bank's stock after selling 8,043,686 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.50% of Itau Unibanco worth $464,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITUB. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Itau Unibanco by 332.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,966 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 5,355 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Itau Unibanco by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,642 shares of the bank's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Itau Unibanco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 486.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 8,966 shares of the bank's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 7,436 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Itau Unibanco from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Vanzo Carlos Orestes sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.24, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,008,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,306,035.36. This represents a 5.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Itau Unibanco Trading Down 1.5%

Itau Unibanco stock opened at $8.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $92.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.58. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12 month low of $5.93 and a 12 month high of $9.60. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $8.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The bank reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.41 billion. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 21.27%. Analysts anticipate that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a $0.068 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. Itau Unibanco's dividend payout ratio is 4.11%.

About Itau Unibanco

Itaú Unibanco SA NYSE: ITUB is a Brazilian banking and financial services conglomerate headquartered in São Paulo. The company was formed by the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco in 2008 and is one of the largest private-sector banks in Brazil and among the leading banks in Latin America. Itaú Unibanco is publicly listed in Brazil and maintains an international listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The bank offers a full range of financial products and services across retail, commercial and wholesale banking.

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