Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB Shares Sold by Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC significantly reduced its stake in Itau Unibanco, selling 1,156,305 shares to end up with 639,180 shares, amounting to a value of $3,515,000.
• Itau Unibanco reported earnings of $0.18 per share in its recent quarter, meeting analysts' expectations, while the company also announced a new monthly dividend of $0.0454 per share.
• The stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Buy" with a target price of $6.27, despite varied positions from several institutional investors.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC reduced its position in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 64.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 639,180 shares of the bank's stock after selling 1,156,305 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC's holdings in Itau Unibanco were worth $3,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 445,578 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 46,608 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco during the 1st quarter worth about $533,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco during the 1st quarter worth about $227,646,000. GMT Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. GMT Capital Corp now owns 7,084,030 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 14,553,574 shares of the bank's stock worth $80,045,000 after purchasing an additional 4,179,898 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.27.

Itau Unibanco Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Itau Unibanco stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $7.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,352,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,600,549. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1-year low of $4.42 and a 1-year high of $7.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $6.68 and a 200 day moving average of $6.23. The company has a market capitalization of $76.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The bank reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.18. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $7.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.75 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.0454 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This is a positive change from Itau Unibanco's previous monthly dividend of $0.00. Itau Unibanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.