Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 5,808,301 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 38.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,225,765 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,808,301 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $63,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 67.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,375 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 20,555.6% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,098 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 2,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC purchased a new stake in Itaú Unibanco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000.

Itaú Unibanco Trading Up 0.5 %

ITUB traded up $0.03 on Friday, hitting $6.03. 20,467,542 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,505,188. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.10 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.97. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12 month low of $5.12 and a 12 month high of $7.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.51.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The bank reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The business had revenue of $8.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.34 billion. Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 18.73%. Sell-side analysts expect that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be issued a $0.0478 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 24th. This is a boost from Itaú Unibanco’s previous Variable dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised Itaú Unibanco from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th.

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.