Perpetual Ltd Acquires 511,081 Shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) by 3.9%, purchasing 511,081 shares to hold 13,477,395 shares total — about 0.12% of ITUB worth $96,498,000 and roughly 1.4% of Perpetual's portfolio (its 25th largest position).
• Itau Unibanco recently missed quarterly expectations (EPS $0.17 vs. $0.20 and lower-than-expected revenue), trades around $8.34 with a $92.3B market cap and P/E of 11.84, declared a special dividend of $0.068 (record/ex‑dividend date Mar 23), and carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average target of $9.00.

Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,477,395 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 511,081 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco accounts for approximately 1.4% of Perpetual Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Perpetual Ltd owned 0.12% of Itau Unibanco worth $96,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its position in Itau Unibanco by 104.3% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 84,543,938 shares of the bank's stock valued at $574,053,000 after acquiring an additional 43,153,787 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 4.9% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 74,529,975 shares of the bank's stock valued at $546,305,000 after purchasing an additional 3,511,303 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 9.5% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 61,131,445 shares of the bank's stock valued at $448,705,000 after purchasing an additional 5,279,282 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 39.6% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 57,624,188 shares of the bank's stock valued at $422,962,000 after purchasing an additional 16,339,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 0.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 41,387,090 shares of the bank's stock valued at $303,781,000 after purchasing an additional 369,474 shares during the last quarter.

Itau Unibanco Stock Down 0.1%

ITUB opened at $8.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.69. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a twelve month low of $4.97 and a twelve month high of $9.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.98 billion. Itau Unibanco had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 20.64%. Equities research analysts forecast that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd will be paid a $0.068 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. Itau Unibanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ITUB shares. Zacks Research downgraded Itau Unibanco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $9.00.

About Itau Unibanco

Itaú Unibanco SA NYSE: ITUB is a Brazilian banking and financial services conglomerate headquartered in São Paulo. The company was formed by the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco in 2008 and is one of the largest private-sector banks in Brazil and among the leading banks in Latin America. Itaú Unibanco is publicly listed in Brazil and maintains an international listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The bank offers a full range of financial products and services across retail, commercial and wholesale banking.

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