Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 24,000 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 5.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 430,347 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 24,000 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $2,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 191.9% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 33,040,433 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $228,968,000 after acquiring an additional 21,720,091 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 52,322,490 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $363,641,000 after purchasing an additional 15,908,536 shares in the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion purchased a new position in Itaú Unibanco during the fourth quarter worth about $92,644,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Itaú Unibanco by 460.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,262,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,766,000 after purchasing an additional 12,539,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Itaú Unibanco in the 4th quarter valued at about $23,769,000.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of ITUB stock opened at $6.67 on Friday. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52 week low of $5.12 and a 52 week high of $7.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.36. The firm has a market cap of $65.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The bank reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.01. Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 19.14%. The company had revenue of $16.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.0031 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is 4.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ITUB shares. UBS Group downgraded Itaú Unibanco from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised Itaú Unibanco from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Itaú Unibanco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.05.

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.