Investors Buy High Volume of Banco Bradesco Call Options (NYSE:BBD)

Banco Bradesco SA (NYSE:BBD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 4,514 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 155% compared to the average volume of 1,772 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Bradesco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBD. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Banco Bradesco by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 82,163,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,604,000 after acquiring an additional 16,908,425 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Banco Bradesco during the second quarter worth $250,398,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Banco Bradesco by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 77,491,815 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,048,000 after purchasing an additional 756,107 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banco Bradesco by 2,469.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,947,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,664,000 after purchasing an additional 46,080,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Banco Bradesco by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 46,867,695 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $155,132,000 after purchasing an additional 10,779,363 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Banco Bradesco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Bradesco Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of BBD stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $3.46. 6,725,475 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,227,949. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.60. Banco Bradesco has a 1-year low of $2.98 and a 1-year high of $4.30. The company has a market cap of $36.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.93.

Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The bank reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter. Banco Bradesco had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 10.55%.The company had revenue of $6.77 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts anticipate that Banco Bradesco will post 0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Bradesco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.0037 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Banco Bradesco’s previous monthly dividend of $0.00. Banco Bradesco’s dividend payout ratio is 7.14%.

Banco Bradesco Company Profile

Banco Bradesco SA is a major Brazilian financial institution headquartered in Osasco, São Paulo. Founded in 1943 by Amador Aguiar, the bank has grown into one of Brazil’s largest private-sector banks, offering a full range of financial services to retail, small and medium-sized enterprises, corporate and institutional clients. It operates across the banking value chain, including deposit-taking, lending, payments, trade finance and treasury services, and it participates actively in Brazil’s retail and corporate credit markets.

The company’s product and service mix extends beyond traditional banking to include insurance, pension plans, asset management, leasing and credit card services, delivered through a combination of branches, automated teller machines and digital channels.