Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 1,925,708 Shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,465,077 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,925,708 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.29% of Itau Unibanco worth $232,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 104.3% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 84,543,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $574,053,000 after buying an additional 43,153,787 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 74,529,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $546,305,000 after buying an additional 3,511,303 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 61,131,445 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $448,705,000 after buying an additional 5,279,282 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 58,581,150 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $419,441,000 after buying an additional 956,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 43,540,350 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $311,749,000 after buying an additional 2,153,260 shares during the last quarter.

Itau Unibanco Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Itau Unibanco stock opened at $7.53 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.11. The company has a market cap of $83.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12-month low of $5.93 and a 12-month high of $9.60.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The bank reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.41 billion. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 21.27%. Research analysts anticipate that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.068 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. Itau Unibanco’s payout ratio is presently 4.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ITUB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Itau Unibanco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Itau Unibanco news, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total transaction of $1,612,296.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,637,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,442,847.02. The trade was a 10.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.38, for a total transaction of $469,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,265,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,866,816.22. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 292,277 shares of company stock worth $2,646,512. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.