USS Investment Management Ltd Boosts Stake in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd has increased its stake in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. by 10.0%, now owning a total of 2,778,562 shares valued at approximately $15.27 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have also increased their holdings in Itau Unibanco, with AQR Capital Management notably growing its position by 212.8% in the same quarter.
• Itau Unibanco recently announced a monthly dividend of $0.0454 per share, representing a yield of 7.7%, marking a significant increase from its previous dividend of $0.00.

USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,778,562 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 252,596 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Itau Unibanco were worth $15,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITUB. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 707.1% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,740 shares of the bank's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 6,781 shares during the last quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Itau Unibanco during the 1st quarter worth $62,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Itau Unibanco in the first quarter valued at $64,000. Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Itau Unibanco in the fourth quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Tuttle Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco during the first quarter worth about $67,000.

Itau Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of ITUB stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $6.99. The company had a trading volume of 14,996,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,450,564. The stock has a market cap of $75.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.89, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.86. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $6.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.26. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52-week low of $4.42 and a 52-week high of $7.23.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The bank reported $0.18 EPS 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 business had revenue of $7.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.75 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.0454 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.8%. This is a positive change from Itau Unibanco's previous monthly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Itau Unibanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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.