Channing Global Advisors LLC Purchases 34,505 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Channing Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 23.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,884 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,505 shares during the period. Itaú Unibanco makes up approximately 1.0% of Channing Global Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $1,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Itaú Unibanco by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 95,992,864 shares of the bank’s stock worth $515,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,409 shares during the period. Westwood Global Investments LLC grew its position in Itaú Unibanco by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Westwood Global Investments LLC now owns 63,473,083 shares of the bank’s stock worth $340,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,746,682 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 23,221,327 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $124,699,000 after acquiring an additional 76,541 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd grew its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 20,816,099 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $111,366,000 after acquiring an additional 8,381,232 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 15,034,066 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $104,487,000 after acquiring an additional 440,486 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ITUB shares. Bank of America raised shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. HSBC downgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th.

Itaú Unibanco Price Performance

Shares of ITUB traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $6.28. 10,471,091 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,137,619. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52-week low of $4.85 and a 52-week high of $7.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $6.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.45.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19. Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The company had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. Research analysts expect that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $0.003 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is currently 5.88%.

Itaú Unibanco 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.