Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders purchased 5,301 put options on Itau Unibanco, roughly 447% above the average volume of 969 contracts.
• Insider sale: Insider Vanzo Orestes sold 74,643 shares for approximately $625,508, reducing their position by 7.4%. Insiders collectively own 0.61% of the company.
• Stock and outlook: ITUB shares fell 1.5% to $7.99, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $10.00. The company slightly missed quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 5,301 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 447% compared to the average volume of 969 put options.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vanzo Orestes sold 74,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.38, for a total transaction of $625,508.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 933,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,821,648.98. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itau Unibanco

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 63,525,566 shares of the bank's stock valued at $454,843,000 after acquiring an additional 2,394,121 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Itau Unibanco by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,465,077 shares of the bank's stock valued at $232,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925,708 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Itau Unibanco by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,359,075 shares of the bank's stock valued at $217,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143,867 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Itau Unibanco by 111.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,293,618 shares of the bank's stock valued at $182,139,000 after purchasing an additional 11,771,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carmignac Gestion grew its stake in Itau Unibanco by 41.6% in the second quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 12,219,314 shares of the bank's stock valued at $99,832,000 after purchasing an additional 3,589,092 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ITUB. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Itau Unibanco from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Itau Unibanco from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Itau Unibanco currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.00.

Itau Unibanco Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE ITUB traded down $0.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $7.99. The stock had a trading volume of 7,868,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,794,402. Itau Unibanco has a 12 month low of $6.54 and a 12 month high of $9.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company's 50-day moving average price is $8.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.16. The company has a market capitalization of $88.44 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The bank reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.29 billion. Itau Unibanco had a return on equity of 21.40% and a net margin of 26.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Itau Unibanco will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Company Profile

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA is one of Brazil's largest financial institutions and provides banking and financial services to individuals, companies and institutional clients. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgages, credit and debit cards, insurance, payment solutions, foreign exchange and investment products.

The company also operates businesses in investment banking, corporate and treasury services, asset management, private banking and wealth management.

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