Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Short Interest Down 20.9% in February

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 28,334,357 shares, a decline of 20.9% from the January 29th total of 35,828,057 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 29,751,066 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 29,751,066 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Itau Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itau Unibanco currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $9.00.

Itau Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of ITUB opened at $9.05 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $100.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $8.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.44. Itau Unibanco has a 52 week low of $4.73 and a 52 week high of $9.60.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.03). Itau Unibanco had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 20.64%.The company had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. Research analysts expect that Itau Unibanco will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.0032 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 2nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Itau Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ITUB. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,959,405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $694,229,000 after acquiring an additional 5,737,696 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 104.3% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 84,543,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $574,053,000 after purchasing an additional 43,153,787 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 74,529,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $546,305,000 after purchasing an additional 3,511,303 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 63,525,566 shares of the bank’s stock worth $454,843,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Itau Unibanco by 10.5% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 61,497,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $417,566,000 after buying an additional 5,828,296 shares during the last quarter.

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.