Short Interest in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Increases By 86.7%

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 65,200,000 shares, an increase of 86.7% from the February 28th total of 34,930,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 28,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, HSBC raised Itaú Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.18 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Itaú Unibanco

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 117.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 51,044,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $253,180,000 after purchasing an additional 27,559,997 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $338,016,000 after buying an additional 2,604,304 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 48,018,726 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $238,173,000 after buying an additional 4,151,459 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 39,658,215 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $196,705,000 after buying an additional 1,286,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 28,389,460 shares of the bank’s stock worth $140,812,000 after acquiring an additional 489,873 shares during the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of ITUB opened at $5.52 on Friday. Itaú Unibanco has a twelve month low of $4.42 and a twelve month high of $6.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.07, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.31.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. On average, research analysts predict that Itaú Unibanco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.0527 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is currently 2.82%.

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.