Legal & General Group Plc Sells 715,788 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 20.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,727,774 shares of the bank's stock after selling 715,788 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc's holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $13,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 117.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 51,044,340 shares of the bank's stock worth $253,180,000 after buying an additional 27,559,997 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 16,935 shares of the bank's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 20,798 shares of the bank's stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 4,083 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 168,458 shares of the bank's stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 47,798 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 28,389,460 shares of the bank's stock worth $140,812,000 after acquiring an additional 489,873 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITUB has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded Itaú Unibanco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $6.18 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Itaú Unibanco has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of Itaú Unibanco stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $5.67. 1,333,968 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,895,452. The company has a market capitalization of $61.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.24. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12 month low of $4.42 and a 12 month high of $6.30.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 12.25%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.0527 per share. This is a boost from Itaú Unibanco's previous dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Itaú Unibanco's dividend payout ratio is 2.82%.

About Itaú 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.