Short Interest in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Expands By 30.6%

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,710,000 shares, a growth of 30.6% from the August 15th total of 18,150,000 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 18,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group downgraded Itaú Unibanco from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Itaú Unibanco from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Itaú Unibanco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.05.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ITUB. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the second quarter valued at $785,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 77.5% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 7,114,571 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,549,000 after purchasing an additional 3,106,130 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $551,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 74.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,753,825 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,762,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 426.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,985,215 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,594,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607,969 shares in the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

ITUB traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $6.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,927,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,491,623. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. Itaú Unibanco has a fifty-two week low of $5.12 and a fifty-two week high of $7.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.96 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders 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 (DPR) is 48.65%.

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.