Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Itau Unibanco Put Options (NYSE:ITUB)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 5,301 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 447% compared to the typical daily volume of 969 put options.

Itau Unibanco Price Performance

NYSE ITUB opened at $8.09 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.44. Itau Unibanco has a 12-month low of $6.54 and a 12-month high of $9.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.56.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The bank reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.29 billion. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 21.40%. Analysts forecast that Itau Unibanco will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ITUB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Itau Unibanco from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Itau Unibanco from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.00.

Insider Transactions at Itau Unibanco

In related news, insider Vanzo Orestes sold 74,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.38, for a total value of $625,508.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 933,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,821,648.98. The trade was a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Itau Unibanco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,135 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Itau Unibanco during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco in the fourth quarter worth $73,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 10,895 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itau Unibanco during the first quarter worth $89,000.

Itau Unibanco Company Profile

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA is a Brazil-based financial services company and one of the largest private-sector banking groups in Latin America. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ITUB, while its principal operations are based in Brazil.

The company provides a broad range of banking and financial products for individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial lending, credit and debit cards, payments, insurance, investment products, wealth management, foreign exchange and investment banking.

Itaú Unibanco was created in 2008 through the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco.