Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB Position Boosted by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 386.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,065,538 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 846,456 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Itau Unibanco were worth $7,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 332.4% during the 2nd 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. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,901 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Itau Unibanco during the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 486.0% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 8,966 shares of the bank's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 7,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Itau Unibanco during the fourth quarter valued at about $70,000.

Insider Activity at Itau Unibanco

In related news, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.38, for a total transaction of $469,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,265,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,866,816.22. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 1,637,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,442,847.02. The trade was a 10.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 292,277 shares of company stock worth $2,646,512. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Itau Unibanco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $9.00.

Itau Unibanco Price Performance

NYSE ITUB opened at $7.55 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.59. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52-week low of $5.93 and a 52-week high of $9.60.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.41 billion. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 21.27%. Equities research analysts predict that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

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

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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