Zacks Research Downgrades Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) to Hold

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on ITUB. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itau Unibanco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.27.

Itau Unibanco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITUB opened at $7.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $7.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.75. Itau Unibanco has a fifty-two week low of $4.42 and a fifty-two week high of $7.52. The firm has a market cap of $79.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.85.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The bank reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $7.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.75 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Itau Unibanco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Itau Unibanco

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 18,816 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,710 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 12,022 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 19,916 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,930 shares during the period. Hamilton Capital LLC lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 16,081 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 31.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,195 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,455 shares during the period.

Itau 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.