Zacks upgraded shares of Itau Unibanco Holding Sociedade Anonima (NASDAQ: ITUB) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning. Zacks currently has $18.00 price target on the stock.
Zacks’ analyst wrote, “We are upgrading our recommendation on Itau Unibanco to Neutral from Underperform attributed to the completion of the acquisition of Redecard along with improved earnings performance. The company’s recurring earnings in fourth quarter 2012 were up sequentially and experienced elevated levels of provisions for loan losses. Though its diversified product mix and cost control efforts are encouraging, we believe that the low interest rate environment, tepid economic recovery and weak asset quality remains a major concern for growth of its profitability. With an increased growth in the loan portfolio of lower risk and spread, the pressure on margins is anticipated to continue.”
Itau Unibanco Holding Sociedade Anonima opened at 17.23 on Wednesday. Itau Unibanco Holding Sociedade Anonima has a 1-year low of $12.84 and a 1-year high of $22.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $17.18. The company has a market cap of $77.852 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66.
The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which is scheduled for Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 1st.
A number of other firms have also recently commented on ITUB. Analysts at JPMorgan Chase upgraded shares of Itau Unibanco Holding Sociedade Anonima from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note to investors on Thursday, January 24th. They now have a $22.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $17.00. Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded shares of Itau Unibanco Holding Sociedade Anonima from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note to investors on Monday, December 3rd.
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