Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB Stock Position Trimmed by Matthews International Capital Management LLC

Matthews International Capital Management LLC cut its position in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 15.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 968,644 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 181,304 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco makes up approximately 3.3% of Matthews International Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Matthews International Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Itau Unibanco were worth $8,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Itau Unibanco by 11.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 445,578 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,450,000 after buying an additional 46,608 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,996,699 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107,607 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 332.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,966 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 5,355 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 118,405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 12,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 425.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 356,467 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 288,602 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ITUB. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Itau Unibanco from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vanzo Carlos Orestes sold 60,000 shares of Itau Unibanco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.24, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,008,014 shares in the company, valued at $8,306,035.36. The trade was a 5.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 39,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.53, for a total value of $376,215.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,205,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,489,768.26. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 169,477 shares of company stock worth $1,528,616. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Itau Unibanco Stock Performance

ITUB opened at $8.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $8.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.24. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1 year low of $5.93 and a 1 year high of $9.60. The stock has a market cap of $95.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.58.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The bank reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.41 billion. Itau Unibanco had a return on equity of 21.27% and a net margin of 27.27%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.068 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. Itau Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.11%.

Itau Unibanco Profile

Itaú Unibanco SA (NYSE: ITUB) is a Brazilian banking and financial services conglomerate headquartered in São Paulo. The company was formed by the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco in 2008 and is one of the largest private-sector banks in Brazil and among the leading banks in Latin America. Itaú Unibanco is publicly listed in Brazil and maintains an international listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The bank offers a full range of financial products and services across retail, commercial and wholesale banking.