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

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 20,778,303 shares, a decline of 26.7% from the February 12th total of 28,334,357 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 24,159,998 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 24,159,998 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days.

Itau Unibanco Price Performance

NYSE ITUB traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $7.98. The stock had a trading volume of 20,420,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,865,546. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.56. The company has a market cap of $88.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.63. Itau Unibanco has a 52-week low of $4.97 and a 52-week high of $9.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. Itau Unibanco had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 20.64%. Equities analysts forecast that Itau Unibanco will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd will be paid a $0.068 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 23rd. Itau Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itau Unibanco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 55,542 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 14,411 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,968,641 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,557,000 after purchasing an additional 130,998 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 376.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 42,738 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 33,772 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 138,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 6,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 631,043 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,518,000 after buying an additional 144,686 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Itau Unibanco currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $9.00.

About Itau Unibanco

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.