Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Acquires Shares of 736,872 Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Key Points

• Eurizon Capital SGR disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Itau Unibanco, buying 736,872 shares valued at about $5.28 million.
• The bank missed Wall Street’s earnings and revenue estimates in its latest quarterly report, posting EPS of $0.20 versus $0.22 expected and revenue of $9.01 billion versus $9.41 billion expected.
• Itau Unibanco declared a special dividend of $0.068 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $9.00.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 736,872 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $5,283,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Itau Unibanco by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 10,895 shares of the bank's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Itau Unibanco by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 519,206 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,718,000 after purchasing an additional 15,121 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in Itau Unibanco by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 46,666 shares of the bank's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its position in Itau Unibanco by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 41,919 shares of the bank's stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Itau Unibanco by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,575,565 shares of the bank's stock valued at $18,454,000 after purchasing an additional 75,015 shares during the period.

Itau Unibanco Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:ITUB opened at $7.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.59. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a one year low of $5.93 and a one year high of $9.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79.

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

Itau Unibanco Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Itau Unibanco

In related news, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of Itau Unibanco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total value of $1,612,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,637,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,442,847.02. This trade represents a 10.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 50,000 shares of Itau Unibanco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.38, for a total value of $469,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,265,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,866,816.22. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 292,277 shares of company stock valued at $2,646,512 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ITUB. Zacks Research downgraded Itau Unibanco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $9.00.

Itau Unibanco Company Profile

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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