Short Interest in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Grows By 14.2%

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

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ITUB traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $6.20. 27,641,181 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,984,709. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-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 released 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.72 billion. Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 19.14%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Itaú Unibanco will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 4,285,614.3% in the 1st quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,079,000 after buying an additional 299,993 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 64.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,654,237 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,974,000 after purchasing an additional 3,390,463 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 77.5% during the second 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. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,398,982 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,695,000 after purchasing an additional 109,259 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 13,629,806 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,638,000 after buying an additional 1,126,695 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, UBS Group cut Itaú Unibanco from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.05.

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.