Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB Holdings Cut by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Key Points

• Renaissance Technologies cut its Itaú Unibanco stake by 43.1% in the first quarter, selling 3.7 million shares and retaining 4.9 million shares valued at approximately $41.0 million.
• Analysts remain generally optimistic, with the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $10.00, above its reported $8.37 opening price.
• Itaú Unibanco recently missed quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $0.20 EPS and $9.01 billion in revenue, but declared a special dividend of $0.068 per share.

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 43.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,894,713 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,711,668 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Itau Unibanco were worth $41,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Itau Unibanco by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,642 shares of the bank's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 5,355 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Itau Unibanco in the first quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in Itau Unibanco by 486.0% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 8,966 shares of the bank's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 7,436 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ITUB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Itau Unibanco from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.00.

Itau Unibanco Stock Up 1.0%

Itau Unibanco stock opened at $8.37 on Tuesday. 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 Holding S.A. has a 1-year low of $5.93 and a 1-year high of $9.60. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $8.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.34. The company has a market capitalization of $92.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. Itau Unibanco's payout ratio is currently 4.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Vanzo Carlos Orestes sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.24, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,008,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

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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