Meritage Portfolio Management Purchases Shares of 324,118 Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Key Points

• Meritage Portfolio Management has acquired 324,118 shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. valued at approximately $2.2 million during the second quarter.
• Itau Unibanco has recently increased its monthly dividend to $0.0454 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous amount of $0.00 with an annualized yield of 8.1%.
• The bank's stock has shown a trading range with a 12-month high of $7.45 and a low of $4.42, currently opening at $6.76.

Meritage Portfolio Management purchased a new stake in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 324,118 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,201,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted 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 during the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD acquired a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco in the 1st quarter valued at $17,826,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 during the last quarter. INCA Investments LLC boosted 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. boosted 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 during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ITUB shares. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $6.27.

Itau Unibanco Stock Performance

Itau Unibanco stock opened at $6.76 on Monday. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12-month low of $4.42 and a 12-month high of $7.45. The company has a market capitalization of $72.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.84. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $7.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.54.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $7.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.75 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.0454 per share. This is a positive change from Itau Unibanco's previous monthly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 8.1%. Itau Unibanco's payout ratio is presently 4.23%.

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.

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