Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 29,580,000 shares, an increase of 14.2% from the September 15th total of 25,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 18,440,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, UBS Group cut Itaú Unibanco from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.05.

Institutional Trading of Itaú Unibanco

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 0.9% in the 2nd 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 67.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,375 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,941 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 3,753 shares in the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 0.5% in the first quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 873,603 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,054,000 after purchasing an additional 4,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 571.3% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 5,862 shares in the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Itaú Unibanco stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.20. 27,641,181 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,984,709. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $6.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Itaú Unibanco has a 1-year low of $5.25 and a 1-year high of $7.27.

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

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

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

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.