Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB Shares Purchased by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio has increased its stake in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. by 18.3%, owning approximately 7.36 million shares valued at nearly $50 million.
• Several hedge funds have also significantly bought into Itau Unibanco, with Banco Santander increasing its holdings by 222.8% during the 1st quarter.
• Itau Unibanco recently announced a monthly dividend of $0.0454 per share, representing an annualized yield of 7.3%, a positive shift from its previous dividend of $0.00.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,355,262 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 1,136,134 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.07% of Itau Unibanco worth $49,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 25,562 shares of the bank's stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 5,743 shares in the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD purchased a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco in the 1st quarter valued at about $17,826,000. INCA Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. INCA Investments LLC now owns 1,247,501 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,861,000 after purchasing an additional 113,409 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 222.8% in the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 155,795 shares of the bank's stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 107,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,592,740 shares of the bank's stock valued at $135,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549,003 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $6.27.

Itau Unibanco Price Performance

ITUB opened at $7.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.59. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1 year low of $4.42 and a 1 year high of $7.44. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $6.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.39.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The bank reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $7.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.75 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.0454 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This is a positive change from Itau Unibanco's previous monthly dividend of $0.00. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. Itau Unibanco's payout ratio is presently 4.23%.

Itau Unibanco Company Profile

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA offers a range of financial products and services to individuals and corporate customers in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, and Activities with the Market + Corporation. It offers current account; loans; credit and debit cards; investment and commercial banking services; real estate lending services; financing and investment services; economic, financial and brokerage advisory; and leasing and foreign exchange services.

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