Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,389,460 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 489,873 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $140,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the third quarter valued at $1,215,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,522,486 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,899,000 after acquiring an additional 861,500 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $338,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604,304 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 23.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,586 shares of the bank’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 4,823 shares during the period. Finally, Haven Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,284,000.

Itaú Unibanco Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Itaú Unibanco stock opened at $5.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.73 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1-year low of $4.42 and a 1-year high of $6.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.29.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.0527 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is 2.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ITUB. HSBC upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.18 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Company Profile

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.