Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 10,537,751 Shares of Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBD)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBD) by 26.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,826,745 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 10,537,751 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Banco Bradesco were worth $97,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Bradesco in the fourth quarter worth $251,000. Sagil Capital LLP grew its holdings in Banco Bradesco by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Sagil Capital LLP now owns 8,623,265 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,470,000 after buying an additional 1,443,854 shares during the last quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. bought a new position in Banco Bradesco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 190.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 797,387 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,523,000 after buying an additional 522,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Banco Bradesco by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 11,408,780 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,791,000 after acquiring an additional 573,726 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BBD has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC raised shares of Banco Bradesco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $2.80 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Banco Bradesco from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $2.40 to $2.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Banco Bradesco Price Performance

Shares of Banco Bradesco stock opened at $2.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.24. Banco Bradesco S.A. has a twelve month low of $1.84 and a twelve month high of $2.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The bank reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09. Banco Bradesco had a net margin of 8.46% and a return on equity of 11.43%. As a group, research analysts expect that Banco Bradesco S.A. will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Bradesco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.0398 dividend. This is a positive change from Banco Bradesco’s previous monthly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 21.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Banco Bradesco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.33%.

About Banco Bradesco

Banco Bradesco SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to individuals, corporates, and businesses in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It provides current, savings, click, and salary accounts; real estate credit, vehicle financing, payroll loans, mortgage loans, microcredit, leasing, and personal and installment credit; overdraft and agribusiness loans; debit and business cards; financial and security services; consortium products; car, personal accident, dental, travel, and life insurance; investment products; pension products; foreign currency exchange services; capitalization bonds; and internet banking services.