Perpetual Ltd Acquires 2,281,079 Shares of Banco Bradesco SA $BBD

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd drastically increased its holdings in Banco Bradesco SA by 4,814.1% during the second quarter, acquiring over 2.28 million shares to reach a total of 2.33 million shares.
• Citigroup upgraded Banco Bradesco's rating from "hold" to "buy", contributing to its current average rating of "hold" with a consensus target price of $2.40.
• Banco Bradesco recently announced a monthly dividend of $0.0035 per share, marking an increase from the previous monthly dividend of $0.00, with a yield of 1.3%.

Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in shares of Banco Bradesco SA (NYSE:BBD - Free Report) by 4,814.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,328,462 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 2,281,079 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Banco Bradesco were worth $7,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Banco Bradesco by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,701,855 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,485,000 after acquiring an additional 584,838 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Banco Bradesco by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,803,157 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,021,000 after acquiring an additional 116,422 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Banco Bradesco by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 21,864,348 shares of the bank's stock valued at $48,757,000 after purchasing an additional 528,442 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Banco Bradesco by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,865,375 shares of the bank's stock valued at $13,080,000 after purchasing an additional 351,829 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Banco Bradesco by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,052,355 shares of the bank's stock valued at $11,266,000 after purchasing an additional 632,647 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Citigroup raised shares of Banco Bradesco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Bradesco currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $2.40.

Banco Bradesco Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of BBD stock traded up $0.07 on Tuesday, hitting $3.39. The stock had a trading volume of 32,227,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,348,242. Banco Bradesco SA has a twelve month low of $1.84 and a twelve month high of $3.41. The firm has a market cap of $36.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.69, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $2.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.72.

Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The bank reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.10. Banco Bradesco had a net margin of 9.76% and a return on equity of 12.96%. The company had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.70 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Banco Bradesco SA will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco Bradesco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.0036 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Banco Bradesco's payout ratio is 8.57%.

Banco Bradesco Profile

Banco Bradesco SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to individuals, corporates, and businesses in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It provides current, savings, click, and salary accounts; real estate credit, vehicle financing, payroll loans, mortgage loans, microcredit, leasing, and personal and installment credit; overdraft and agribusiness loans; debit and business cards; financial and security services; consortium products; car, personal accident, dental, travel, and life insurance; investment products; pension products; foreign currency exchange services; capitalization bonds; and internet banking services.