Farringdon Capital Ltd. Makes New Investment in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 45,650 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ITUB. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 4,000.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 11,961 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Itaú Unibanco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 16,935 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITUB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HSBC upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.18 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Itaú Unibanco stock opened at $5.66 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $5.39 and its 200 day moving average is $5.25. The company has a market capitalization of $60.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.25, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.65. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a twelve month low of $4.42 and a twelve month high of $6.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last posted its quarterly 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given 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 (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.