Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 34,461,089 shares, a growth of 115.0% from the April 30th total of 16,028,251 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 30,218,218 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Itau Unibanco Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ITUB traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $7.90. The company had a trading volume of 22,119,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,817,636. The firm has a market cap of $87.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $8.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. Itau Unibanco has a 52-week low of $5.93 and a 52-week high of $9.60.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The bank reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.41 billion. Itau Unibanco had a return on equity of 21.27% and a net margin of 27.27%. On average, research analysts predict that Itau Unibanco will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Itau Unibanco

In related news, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 39,477 shares of Itau Unibanco stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.53, for a total transaction of $376,215.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,205,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,489,768.26. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of Itau Unibanco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total value of $1,612,296.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,637,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,442,847.02. This represents a 10.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 292,277 shares of company stock valued at $2,646,512 in the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ITUB. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 104.3% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 84,543,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $574,053,000 after purchasing an additional 43,153,787 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in Itau Unibanco during the 4th quarter valued at about $203,319,000. Samlyn Capital LLC purchased a new position in Itau Unibanco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $99,388,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 1,667.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,413,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $91,117,000 after purchasing an additional 11,711,487 shares during the period. Finally, Tredje AP fonden bought a new stake in Itau Unibanco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,024,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ITUB shares. Zacks Research lowered Itau Unibanco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Itau Unibanco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.