Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $9.20 and last traded at $9.1850, with a volume of 2227781 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITUB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Itau Unibanco from $6.80 to $7.77 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Itau Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Itau Unibanco currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.77.

Itau Unibanco Trading Down 0.1%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

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

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.0032 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 2nd. Itau Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is 4.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Itau Unibanco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 104.3% during the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 84,543,938 shares of the bank’s stock worth $574,053,000 after buying an additional 43,153,787 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 16,339,845 shares during the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC bought a new stake in Itau Unibanco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $99,388,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in Itau Unibanco by 1,667.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,413,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $91,117,000 after acquiring an additional 11,711,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Itau Unibanco by 51.9% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 29,278,462 shares of the bank’s stock worth $198,860,000 after acquiring an additional 10,002,310 shares during the last quarter.

Itau Unibanco Company 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.