Headlands Technologies LLC Boosts Holdings in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 39.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 168,458 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,798 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $140,812,000 after buying an additional 489,873 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 82.5% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 600,759 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,980,000 after acquiring an additional 271,550 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 48,018,726 shares of the bank’s stock worth $238,173,000 after acquiring an additional 4,151,459 shares during the period. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,282,897 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,363,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 45,818 shares of the bank’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 10,741 shares in the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

ITUB opened at $5.54 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $59.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.10, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5.33 and a 200 day moving average of $5.29. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $4.42 and a fifty-two week high of $6.30.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.0527 dividend. This is an increase from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is presently 2.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ITUB shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. HSBC upgraded Itaú Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.18 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $6.27.

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.