Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 16,648 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 408,920 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 16,648 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $2,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 67.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,375 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 571.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 5,862 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 20,555.6% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,098 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 2,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Itaú Unibanco stock remained flat at $6.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday. 734,439 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,137,414. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1 year low of $5.12 and a 1 year high of $7.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $59.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $6.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.44.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The bank reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The firm had revenue of $8.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.34 billion. Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 18.73%. Research analysts forecast that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.0478 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This is an increase from Itaú Unibanco’s previous Variable dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.05%.

About Itaú Unibanco

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.