Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 82.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 600,759 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 271,550 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $2,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ITUB. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in Itaú Unibanco during the third quarter valued at about $1,215,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,522,486 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,899,000 after acquiring an additional 861,500 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank’s stock worth $338,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604,304 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 23.2% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,899,587 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,930,000 after purchasing an additional 346,390 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Itaú Unibanco presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $6.27.

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 earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 12.25%. 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 firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.0527 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.82%.

Itaú Unibanco Company 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.