Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 303,903 Shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Key Points

• Franklin Resources cut its stake in Itau Unibanco by 1.0%, selling 303,903 shares and retaining 30,539,369 shares (about 0.28% of the company) valued at roughly $224.16 million.
• Several large institutions aggressively increased holdings—most notably Orbis Allan Gray (+104.3% to 84.54M shares), with Schroder, Fisher, Robeco and Arrowstreet also adding tens of millions of shares.
• Itau Unibanco trades with a market cap of $89.66B and a P/E of 11.5, recently missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, and announced a special dividend of $0.068 per share (ex/record date March 23); analysts’ consensus rating is “Buy” with an average $9 price target.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,539,369 shares of the bank's stock after selling 303,903 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.28% of Itau Unibanco worth $224,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 104.3% in the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 84,543,938 shares of the bank's stock worth $574,053,000 after purchasing an additional 43,153,787 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 74,529,975 shares of the bank's stock valued at $546,305,000 after purchasing an additional 3,511,303 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 10.5% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 61,497,171 shares of the bank's stock valued at $417,566,000 after buying an additional 5,828,296 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Itau Unibanco by 39.6% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 57,624,188 shares of the bank's stock worth $422,962,000 after buying an additional 16,339,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Itau Unibanco by 8.6% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 55,852,163 shares of the bank's stock worth $379,236,000 after buying an additional 4,440,223 shares in the last quarter.

Itau Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of ITUB opened at $8.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. The stock has a market cap of $89.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.63. The business's 50 day moving average price is $8.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.54. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52 week low of $4.97 and a 52 week high of $9.60.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 20.64% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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, March 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.068 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. Itau Unibanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Itau Unibanco from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Itau Unibanco presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target 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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