New York State Common Retirement Fund Buys New Holdings in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,420,052 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $23,769,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ITUB. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 95,992,864 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $515,482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,613,409 shares during the period. Westwood Global Investments LLC raised its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Westwood Global Investments LLC now owns 63,473,083 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $340,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,746,682 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 23,221,327 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $124,699,000 after acquiring an additional 76,541 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd raised its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 67.4% in the 3rd quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 20,816,099 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $111,366,000 after acquiring an additional 8,381,232 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 15,034,066 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $104,487,000 after acquiring an additional 440,486 shares during the period.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of ITUB opened at $6.30 on Friday. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12 month low of $4.85 and a 12 month high of $7.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $6.68 and its 200-day moving average is $6.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.19. Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The company had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. On average, analysts expect that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.003 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is 5.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ITUB shares. HSBC cut shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 16th.

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.