Perpetual Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd reduced its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 6.9%, owning approximately 13.99 million shares, which constitutes 1.1% of its portfolio.
• A number of hedge funds have actively altered their positions in Itau Unibanco, with Millennium Management significantly increasing their stake by 386.7%.
• Itau Unibanco has announced a monthly dividend yield of 7.5%, a rise from previously having no dividends, reflecting positive returns for shareholders.

Perpetual Ltd reduced its position in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 6.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,987,162 shares of the bank's stock after selling 1,043,875 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco accounts for about 1.1% of Perpetual Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Perpetual Ltd owned about 0.13% of Itau Unibanco worth $94,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ITUB. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,215 shares of the bank's stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 4,218 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 386.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,690,002 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,382,000 after buying an additional 1,342,791 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Itau Unibanco in the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 6,290,328 shares of the bank's stock worth $31,200,000 after buying an additional 3,521,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 61,367 shares of the bank's stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 7,556 shares in the last quarter.

Itau Unibanco Trading Up 2.4%

NYSE ITUB traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $7.42. 11,777,992 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,518,900. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $6.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.38. 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 Holding S.A. has a 52 week low of $4.42 and a 52 week high of $7.42. The stock has a market cap of $79.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Itau Unibanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.0454 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This is an increase from Itau Unibanco's previous monthly dividend of $0.00. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. Itau Unibanco's payout ratio is presently 4.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Itau Unibanco currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $6.27.

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.