First Affirmative Financial Network Purchases 11,473 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its holdings in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 47.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,593 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,473 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,522,486 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,899,000 after acquiring an additional 861,500 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% during the 3rd 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 period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,586 shares of the bank’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 4,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd increased its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 9.0% in the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 13,629,806 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126,695 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Itaú Unibanco from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. HSBC upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.80 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $6.90.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of Itaú Unibanco stock opened at $5.80 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $5.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.95. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $4.86 and a fifty-two week high of $7.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.0029 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This is a positive change from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is currently 3.85%.

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.