Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Earnings Beat

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $6.58 and last traded at $6.55, with a volume of 14012037 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.22.

The bank reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $7.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.07 billion.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 2.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Itaú Unibanco

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $338,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,604,304 shares during the last quarter. Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda lifted its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 96.8% in the 4th quarter. Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda now owns 2,540,200 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,200 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 487,867 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 4,636 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 13,681,494 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,860,000 after acquiring an additional 51,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Itaú Unibanco by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 52,900 shares of the bank’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 5,845 shares during the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Trading Up 6.3 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.29. The firm 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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.