Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Short Interest Update

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,910,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the August 31st total of 23,710,000 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 17,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 67.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,375 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,755 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 571.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 5,862 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Itaú Unibanco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in Itaú Unibanco in the 2nd quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Sunpointe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the 4th quarter valued at $72,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITUB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Itaú Unibanco from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. UBS Group lowered shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Itaú Unibanco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.05.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Itaú Unibanco stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $6.55. 3,435,025 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,675,105. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. Itaú Unibanco has a one year low of $5.12 and a one year high of $7.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.20 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.97.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The bank reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.01. Itaú Unibanco had a return on equity of 19.14% and a net margin of 11.39%. The business had revenue of $16.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Itaú Unibanco will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a $0.0031 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.05%.

Itaú 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.