American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 274,750 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,009,983 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 274,750 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $19,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in Itaú Unibanco during the third quarter worth $1,215,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 7.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,522,486 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,899,000 after buying an additional 861,500 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% in the third 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 raised its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 23.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,899,587 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,930,000 after purchasing an additional 346,390 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Itaú Unibanco Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of ITUB stock opened at $5.52 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.29 and a 200-day moving average of $5.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market cap of $59.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.07, a PEG 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.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 12.25%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.0527 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.82%.

About Itaú Unibanco

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.