Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its holdings in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ITUB. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 28,389,460 shares of the bank's stock valued at $140,812,000 after buying an additional 489,873 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 7.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,522,486 shares of the bank's stock valued at $83,899,000 after purchasing an additional 861,500 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Itaú Unibanco by 23.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,586 shares of the bank's stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 4,823 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised Itaú Unibanco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $6.18 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:ITUB traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5.66. 21,231,513 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,952,959. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $4.42 and a fifty-two week high of $6.30. The company has a market capitalization of $60.97 billion, a PE ratio of 7.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.25.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) 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, equities 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 declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.0527 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Itaú Unibanco's previous dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco's 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.