Virtu Financial LLC Makes New $1.43 Million Investment in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A., purchasing 260,789 shares valued at approximately $1,434,000.
• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Itau Unibanco by 58.8%, now owning 585,013 shares, while Vanguard Group boosted its holding to 24,592,740 shares, reflecting heightened institutional interest.
• Itau Unibanco recently declared a $0.0024 dividend, leading to a yield of 43.0%, but also reported a net margin of only 14.05% in its latest earnings statement.

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 260,789 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,434,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Itau Unibanco by 58.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 585,013 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 216,519 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Itau Unibanco by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 866,035 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,763,000 after acquiring an additional 89,569 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Itau Unibanco by 67.9% in the 1st quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 18,534 shares of the bank's stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 7,494 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Itau Unibanco by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,592,740 shares of the bank's stock valued at $135,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natural Investments LLC lifted its position in Itau Unibanco by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Natural Investments LLC now owns 97,936 shares of the bank's stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 8,192 shares in the last quarter.

Itau Unibanco Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE ITUB traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $6.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,280,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,605,262. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52 week low of $4.42 and a 52 week high of $7.13. The company has a market capitalization of $74.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $6.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.04.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $7.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.75 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.0024 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a dividend yield of 43.0%. Itau Unibanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research report on Thursday, July 10th.

About Itau Unibanco

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.