Squarepoint Ops LLC Grows Position in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Key Points

• Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its Itau Unibanco stake by 300.6% in the second quarter, ending with 312,133 shares valued at approximately $2.55 million. Several major institutional investors, including GQG Partners and Orbis Allan Gray, also increased their positions.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with two Buy ratings and one Hold rating producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $10.00 average price target. JPMorgan recently raised its target from $9.00 to $10.00.
• Itau Unibanco shares opened at $8.32, while the bank’s latest quarterly results slightly missed expectations, reporting $0.21 in EPS versus the $0.22 consensus and $9.27 billion in revenue versus $9.29 billion expected.

Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 300.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 312,133 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 234,214 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC's holdings in Itau Unibanco were worth $2,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Itau Unibanco by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,959,405 shares of the bank's stock worth $694,229,000 after buying an additional 5,737,696 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Itau Unibanco by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 63,525,566 shares of the bank's stock valued at $454,843,000 after acquiring an additional 2,394,121 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 43,540,350 shares of the bank's stock valued at $311,749,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,260 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 42,818,183 shares of the bank's stock worth $306,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520,759 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITUB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Itau Unibanco from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Itau Unibanco from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Itau Unibanco news, insider Vanzo Orestes sold 74,643 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.38, for a total value of $625,508.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 933,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,821,648.98. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Itau Unibanco Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Itau Unibanco stock opened at $8.32 on Monday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $8.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.56. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12-month low of $6.54 and a 12-month high of $9.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.44.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The bank reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. Itau Unibanco had a return on equity of 21.40% and a net margin of 26.41%. Analysts predict that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Profile

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA is one of Brazil's largest financial institutions and provides banking and financial services to individuals, companies and institutional clients. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgages, credit and debit cards, insurance, payment solutions, foreign exchange and investment products.

The company also operates businesses in investment banking, corporate and treasury services, asset management, private banking and wealth management.

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