Short Interest in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Increases By 29.1%

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 87,770,000 shares, a growth of 29.1% from the March 31st total of 67,980,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 27,530,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Institutional Trading of Itaú Unibanco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ITUB. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,899,587 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,930,000 after buying an additional 346,390 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank’s stock worth $338,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604,304 shares during the period. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd now owns 9,765,549 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,437,000 after purchasing an additional 643,532 shares in the last quarter. Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda boosted its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 96.8% in the 4th quarter. Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda now owns 2,540,200 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,599,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,200 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 487,867 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. HSBC upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.18 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITUB opened at $6.20 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.27. Itaú Unibanco has a twelve month low of $4.42 and a twelve month high of $6.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.84 billion, a PE ratio of 7.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.65.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 12.25%. Equities analysts forecast that Itaú Unibanco will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.0024 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.82%.

About Itaú Unibanco

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.