Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Short Interest Down 20.9% in February

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 28,334,357 shares, a decrease of 20.9% from the January 29th total of 35,828,057 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 29,751,066 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Based on an average trading volume of 29,751,066 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itau Unibanco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itau Unibanco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. MAI Capital Management acquired a new stake in Itau Unibanco during the second quarter worth $41,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 332.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,966 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 5,355 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,642 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,901 shares during the period. Finally, Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ITUB. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Itau Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Itau Unibanco Stock Down 2.3%

ITUB opened at $9.05 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $8.21 and a 200-day moving average of $7.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. Itau Unibanco has a 1-year low of $4.73 and a 1-year high of $9.60.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.03). Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 20.64% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The company had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Itau Unibanco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.0032 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 2nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Itau Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.29%.

Itau Unibanco Company Profile

Itaú Unibanco SA (NYSE: ITUB) is a Brazilian banking and financial services conglomerate headquartered in São Paulo. The company was formed by the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco in 2008 and is one of the largest private-sector banks in Brazil and among the leading banks in Latin America. Itaú Unibanco is publicly listed in Brazil and maintains an international listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The bank offers a full range of financial products and services across retail, commercial and wholesale banking.