Moon Capital Management LP Buys New Shares in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ITUB. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 117.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 51,044,340 shares of the bank's stock valued at $253,180,000 after purchasing an additional 27,559,997 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank's stock valued at $338,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604,304 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 48,018,726 shares of the bank's stock valued at $238,173,000 after acquiring an additional 4,151,459 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 39,658,215 shares of the bank's stock valued at $196,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 28,389,460 shares of the bank's stock valued at $140,812,000 after acquiring an additional 489,873 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Itaú Unibanco Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:ITUB traded down $0.06 on Thursday, hitting $6.26. 11,372,199 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,115,854. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.65. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52 week low of $4.42 and a 52 week high of $6.37. 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's 50-day moving average price is $5.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.27.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 12.25%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.0024 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a yield of 0.46%. Itaú Unibanco's payout ratio is 2.82%.

Itaú Unibanco Company 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.