Moon Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 1,000,000 Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Moon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,000,000 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $4,960,000. Itaú Unibanco makes up about 3.8% of Moon Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 24,959 shares of the bank's stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 4,720 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,899,587 shares of the bank's stock worth $174,930,000 after buying an additional 346,390 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank's stock valued at $338,016,000 after buying an additional 2,604,304 shares in the last quarter. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd now owns 9,765,549 shares of the bank's stock worth $48,437,000 after buying an additional 643,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda lifted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 96.8% in the fourth quarter. Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda now owns 2,540,200 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,599,000 after buying an additional 1,249,200 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Itaú Unibanco to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Itaú Unibanco presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

NYSE ITUB traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.30. The company had a trading volume of 24,930,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,176,969. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.26. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $4.42 and a fifty-two week high of $6.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market cap of $67.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.65.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last released its 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.0527 dividend. 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 (DPR) 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.