Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Holdings in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,465,077 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,925,708 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Itau Unibanco were worth $232,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ITUB. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 445,578 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,450,000 after buying an additional 46,608 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 28.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,996,699 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,482,000 after buying an additional 1,107,607 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 332.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,966 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 5,355 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 118,405 shares of the bank’s stock worth $804,000 after buying an additional 12,442 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 425.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 356,467 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,420,000 after buying an additional 288,602 shares during the period.

Itau Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of ITUB stock opened at $7.53 on Wednesday. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a one year low of $5.93 and a one year high of $9.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $8.35 and its 200 day moving average is $8.11. The company has a market capitalization of $83.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79.

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

Itau Unibanco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio is 4.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 1,637,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,442,847.02. This represents a 10.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 39,477 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.53, for a total transaction of $376,215.81. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,205,642 shares in the company, valued at $11,489,768.26. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 292,277 shares of company stock worth $2,646,512 over the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Itau Unibanco 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.