Seafarer Capital Partners LLC Purchases 317,742 Shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Key Points

• Seafarer Capital Partners bought an additional 317,742 shares in the quarter, bringing its stake to 10,909,142 shares (about $78.11M), making Itau Unibanco roughly 20.3% of Seafarer’s portfolio and its second-largest holding.
• Analyst sentiment is cautiously positive: JPMorgan raised its price target to $9 and rated ITUB "overweight," MarketBeat shows two Buys and two Holds for an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target of $9.00.
• Itau missed quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.17 vs. $0.20 est. and revenue of $8.62B vs. $8.98B est., and announced a special dividend of $0.068 per share (record/ex-dividend date listed as March 23) to be paid on September 8.

Seafarer Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,909,142 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 317,742 shares during the quarter. Itau Unibanco comprises approximately 20.3% of Seafarer Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Seafarer Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.10% of Itau Unibanco worth $78,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ITUB. MAI Capital Management acquired a new position in Itau Unibanco during the second quarter worth $41,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 332.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,966 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 5,355 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Itau Unibanco during the third quarter worth about $57,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Itau Unibanco during the third quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 486.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 8,966 shares of the bank's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 7,436 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Itau Unibanco Stock Up 3.9%

ITUB stock opened at $8.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $8.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.62. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1-year low of $4.97 and a 1-year high of $9.60.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.98 billion. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 20.64% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Analysts expect that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

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

Itau Unibanco Profile

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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