Banco Bradesco SA (NYSE:BBD) Short Interest Update

Banco Bradesco SA (NYSE:BBD) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 41,838,178 shares, a growth of 245.3% from the February 26th total of 12,115,099 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 56,817,058 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Itau BBA Securities reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Banco Bradesco in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Banco Bradesco in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Banco Bradesco presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Banco Bradesco Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE:BBD opened at $3.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.53. Banco Bradesco has a 1-year low of $1.98 and a 1-year high of $4.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.55.

Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.11. Banco Bradesco had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 10.19%.The company had revenue of $6.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Banco Bradesco will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Bradesco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be given a dividend of $0.0037 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Banco Bradesco’s previous monthly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. Banco Bradesco’s payout ratio is presently 7.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Bradesco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd raised its holdings in Banco Bradesco by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd now owns 148,670,798 shares of the bank’s stock worth $517,056,000 after buying an additional 11,137,145 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 0.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 88,405,292 shares of the bank’s stock worth $298,810,000 after buying an additional 306,617 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Banco Bradesco by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 82,163,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $273,604,000 after acquiring an additional 16,908,425 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Banco Bradesco in the second quarter worth approximately $250,398,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 77,491,815 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $258,048,000 after acquiring an additional 756,107 shares during the period.

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.