William Blair Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management increased its stake in Itau Unibanco by 24% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 36.6 million shares worth about $261.7 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but still constructive: Zacks cut the stock to Hold, while JPMorgan raised its price target to $9.00 and kept an Overweight rating. The consensus rating is currently Moderate Buy.
• Itau Unibanco recently reported Q1 earnings of $0.20 per share, missing estimates, and revenue of $9.01 billion versus expectations of $9.41 billion. The bank also announced a special dividend of $0.068 per share, payable on September 8.

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 24.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,551,763 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 7,081,568 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco comprises 0.7% of William Blair Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.33% of Itau Unibanco worth $261,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ITUB. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 11.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 445,578 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,450,000 after buying an additional 46,608 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 28.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,996,699 shares of the bank's stock valued at $27,482,000 after buying an additional 1,107,607 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 11.7% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 118,405 shares of the bank's stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 12,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 425.3% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 356,467 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 288,602 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ITUB. Zacks Research cut shares of Itau Unibanco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $9.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Itau Unibanco

In related news, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total transaction of $1,612,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,637,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,442,847.02. This trade represents a 10.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.38, for a total transaction of $469,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,265,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,866,816.22. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 292,277 shares of company stock valued at $2,646,512 over the last ninety days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Itau Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ITUB opened at $7.82 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $8.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The stock has a market cap of $86.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.63. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1 year low of $5.93 and a 1 year high of $9.60.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The bank reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.41 billion. Itau Unibanco had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 27.27%. Equities analysts anticipate that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.068 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 23rd. Itau Unibanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.11%.

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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