Headlands Technologies LLC Buys 47,798 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 39.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 168,458 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,798 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ITUB. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 4,000.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 11,961 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Fielder Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 17,106 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,000.

Itaú Unibanco Price Performance

NYSE ITUB opened at $5.54 on Thursday. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a one year low of $4.42 and a one year high of $6.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.33 and a 200 day moving average of $5.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $59.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.10, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 12.25%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.0527 per share. This is a boost from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on ITUB shares. UBS Group raised Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.18 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itaú Unibanco has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $6.27.

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.