First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,704 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,592 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Seafarer Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Seafarer Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,174,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,709,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 4,435,144 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,824,000 after purchasing an additional 206,831 shares in the last quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 180,884 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 34,505 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Itaú Unibanco during the fourth quarter valued at $23,769,000. Finally, HTLF Bank purchased a new position in Itaú Unibanco during the fourth quarter worth about $83,000.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

NYSE ITUB opened at $6.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.48. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a twelve month low of $4.85 and a twelve month high of $7.27.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.19. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Itaú Unibanco had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 10.48%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITUB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. HSBC downgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th.

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.