Madison Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 373,870 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ITUB. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Itaú Unibanco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $68,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Itaú Unibanco during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the third quarter valued at about $81,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the third quarter valued at about $90,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 16.9% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,556 shares of the bank's stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ITUB. UBS Group upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Itaú Unibanco to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, HSBC raised 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itaú Unibanco has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of Itaú Unibanco stock traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $5.62. 16,117,916 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,344,567. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.54 billion, a PE ratio of 7.20, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.25 and a 200 day moving average of $5.31. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52 week low of $4.42 and a 52 week high of $6.35.

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 net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. Equities analysts forecast that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.0527 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Itaú Unibanco's previous dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco's dividend payout ratio is 2.82%.

Itaú Unibanco 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.