Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,332,975 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 186,204 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Itau Unibanco worth $61,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oaktree Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 58.5% in the second quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 11,004,494 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,721,000 after purchasing an additional 4,063,482 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 161,847 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 63,920 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,868,048 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,178 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 57,624,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $422,962,000 after purchasing an additional 16,339,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 6,162,981 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,236,000 after purchasing an additional 311,472 shares in the last quarter.

Itau Unibanco Price Performance

Shares of ITUB opened at $8.48 on Wednesday. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52 week low of $4.91 and a 52 week high of $9.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. The firm has a market cap of $93.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $8.40 and a 200-day moving average of $7.53.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. Itau Unibanco had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 20.64%. As a group, analysts forecast that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd will be given a $0.068 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. Itau Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ITUB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Itau Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $9.00.

About Itau Unibanco

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.