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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,637,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,442,847.02. The trade was a 10.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 39,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 292,277 shares of company stock valued at $2,646,512. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 10,895 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Gould Asset Management LLC CA boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 40,777 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 16.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,441 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 46,666 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 3.7% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 40,445 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter.

Itau Unibanco Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of ITUB stock traded down $0.09 on Monday, hitting $7.80. The stock had a trading volume of 14,162,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,411,016. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $8.41 and its 200-day moving average is $8.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. Itau Unibanco has a 52-week low of $5.93 and a 52-week high of $9.60.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The bank reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.41 billion. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 21.27%. As a group, research analysts expect that Itau Unibanco will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be paid a $0.068 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. Itau Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is 4.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Itau Unibanco Company Profile

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.