GQG Partners LLC Has $427.54 Million Stock Position in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Key Points

• GQG Partners LLC significantly increased its stake in Itau Unibanco by 738.6%, acquiring nearly 77.7 million shares and bringing its total ownership to about $427.5 million.
• Several other major hedge funds also expanded their investments in Itau Unibanco, including Bank of America and Jane Street Group, with increases of over 300% in some cases.
• Itau Unibanco recently announced a dividend of $0.0024, yielding 43.0%, although it reported only $0.18 earnings per share, meeting analysts' expectations.

GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 738.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,734,889 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 68,465,514 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC owned approximately 0.72% of Itau Unibanco worth $427,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 5.8% during the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 41,964,629 shares of the bank's stock valued at $230,805,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306,414 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 311.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,584,177 shares of the bank's stock valued at $126,898,000 after acquiring an additional 19,365,644 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,549,003 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 16,621,005 shares of the bank's stock valued at $82,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 15,031,037 shares of the bank's stock valued at $82,671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349,543 shares in 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.

Itau Unibanco Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:ITUB traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.96. The stock had a trading volume of 27,047,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,769,468. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12-month low of $4.42 and a 12-month high of $7.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $75.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company's 50 day moving average is $6.60 and its 200-day moving average is $6.06.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The bank reported $0.18 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $7.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.75 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.0024 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a yield of 43.0%. Itau Unibanco's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.39%.

Itau Unibanco 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.