Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Sells 1,156,305 Shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

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 large investors have also made changes to their positions in ITUB. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in Itau Unibanco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $367,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Itau Unibanco by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 452,035 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,242,000 after purchasing an additional 98,591 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,350 shares of the bank's stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,225,323 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,958,000 after purchasing an additional 181,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 354.3% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 915,686 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,542,000 after acquiring an additional 714,118 shares in the last quarter.

Itau Unibanco Stock Up 1.0%

ITUB traded up $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $7.06. 6,025,155 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,398,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $76.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.86. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52-week low of $4.42 and a 52-week high of $7.23. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $6.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.25.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $7.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.75 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued 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) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.7%. Itau Unibanco's dividend payout ratio is presently 4.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research note 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 given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $6.27.

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.