Northcape Capital Pty Ltd Buys 643,532 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Northcape Capital Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,765,549 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 643,532 shares during the period. Itaú Unibanco comprises about 7.7% of Northcape Capital Pty Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd owned about 0.10% of Itaú Unibanco worth $48,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITUB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 2,604,304 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,899,587 shares of the bank's stock worth $174,930,000 after acquiring an additional 346,390 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 43.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 178,697 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 54,172 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 16.9% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,556 shares of the bank's stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the third quarter worth $40,685,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Itaú Unibanco from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.50.

Itaú Unibanco Trading Down 1.5 %

Itaú Unibanco stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.09. 26,766,964 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,577,117. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.53, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.95. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12 month low of $4.86 and a 12 month high of $7.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $5.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.05.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.0029 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This is a positive change from Itaú Unibanco's previous dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.56%.

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.