Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Buys 208,750 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Free Report) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,126,490 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 208,750 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $15,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 117.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 51,044,340 shares of the bank's stock worth $253,180,000 after buying an additional 27,559,997 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,604,304 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 48,018,726 shares of the bank's stock valued at $238,173,000 after buying an additional 4,151,459 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 39,658,215 shares of the bank's stock worth $196,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 489,873 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ITUB shares. HSBC upgraded 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. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Itaú Unibanco to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Itaú Unibanco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Itaú Unibanco presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE ITUB traded up $0.16 on Thursday, hitting $6.14. 31,699,175 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,051,219. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52-week low of $4.42 and a 52-week high of $6.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.65. 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 fifty day moving average price of $5.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.25.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 12.25%. Research analysts forecast that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.0527 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.