Short Interest in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Grows By 30.6%

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,710,000 shares, an increase of 30.6% from the August 15th total of 18,150,000 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 18,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. UBS Group cut shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itaú Unibanco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.05.

Itaú Unibanco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITUB traded up $0.06 on Monday, hitting $6.73. The company had a trading volume of 10,927,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,491,623. The company has a market cap of $65.96 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $6.38 and a 200 day moving average of $6.35. Itaú Unibanco has a 52-week low of $5.12 and a 52-week high of $7.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The bank reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $16.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.72 billion. Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 19.14%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Itaú Unibanco will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.0031 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is currently 48.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 0.9% during the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 183,245 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,664 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Itaú Unibanco by 67.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,375 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 873,603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,054,000 after buying an additional 4,102 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Group LLC grew its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 1,205,760 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,356,000 after buying an additional 4,273 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 571.3% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,888 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 5,862 shares during the period.

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.