GMT Capital Corp Reduces Stock Position in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Key Points

• GMT Capital Corp cut its Itau Unibanco stake by 49.5% in the fourth quarter, selling about 1.15 million shares and leaving it with 1.17 million shares valued at roughly $8.4 million.
• Insiders also trimmed holdings, with two executives selling a combined 292,277 shares in the last quarter; insiders now own about 0.61% of the company.
• Itau Unibanco reported mixed results and modest stock gains, posting Q1 EPS of $0.20 versus $0.22 expected while revenue also missed estimates, even as the shares traded up 0.9% and the company announced a special dividend of $0.068 per share.

GMT Capital Corp reduced its holdings in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 49.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,174,334 shares of the bank's stock after selling 1,149,996 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco makes up 0.4% of GMT Capital Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. GMT Capital Corp's holdings in Itau Unibanco were worth $8,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ITUB. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,959,405 shares of the bank's stock worth $694,229,000 after purchasing an additional 5,737,696 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 104.3% during 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 during the period. 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 worth $546,305,000 after purchasing an additional 3,511,303 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 63,525,566 shares of the bank's stock worth $454,843,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394,121 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 58,581,150 shares of the bank's stock worth $419,441,000 after purchasing an additional 956,962 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Itau Unibanco

In related news, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 39,477 shares of Itau Unibanco stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.53, for a total transaction of $376,215.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,205,642 shares in the company, valued at $11,489,768.26. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of Itau Unibanco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total transaction of $1,612,296.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,637,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,442,847.02. The trade was a 10.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 292,277 shares of company stock valued at $2,646,512 in the last quarter. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Itau Unibanco Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of ITUB opened at $7.99 on Friday. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1-year low of $5.93 and a 1-year high of $9.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.33 and a 200 day moving average of $8.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

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

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITUB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Itau Unibanco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Itau Unibanco presently has a consensus 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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