D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Acquires Shares of 14,325,367 Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,325,367 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $71,054,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ITUB. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 27,876 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its position in Itaú Unibanco by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 16,935 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 13.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 3,089 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 44,738 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 3,405 shares in the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITUB opened at $6.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.29. The company has a market cap of $71.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.76. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a one year low of $4.42 and a one year high of $6.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The bank reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.02. Itaú Unibanco had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 12.25%. The company had revenue of $7.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.07 billion. Research analysts predict that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a $0.0024 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Itaú Unibanco 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.