Itaú Unibanco Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:ITUB)

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 13,135 call options on the company. This is an increase of 706% compared to the average volume of 1,629 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itaú Unibanco

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Itaú Unibanco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the 3rd quarter worth about $68,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $81,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 4,000.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 11,961 shares in the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Price Performance

Shares of Itaú Unibanco stock opened at $6.30 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a market capitalization of $61.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.07, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. Itaú Unibanco has a 52 week low of $4.42 and a 52 week high of $6.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.85.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. As a group, analysts expect that Itaú Unibanco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.058 dividend. This is a positive change from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is presently 2.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. HSBC upgraded Itaú Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.80 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $6.90.

About Itaú Unibanco

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.