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

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ITUB. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Itaú Unibanco in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 4,000.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 11,961 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the third quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,001 shares during the period. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Itaú Unibanco in the third quarter worth $90,000.

Itaú Unibanco Price Performance

ITUB opened at $5.52 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.07, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.30. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a twelve month low of $4.42 and a twelve month high of $6.30.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. Equities analysts expect that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.0527 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is presently 2.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.