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

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 17.0% in April to 19,581,294 shares, representing 0.2% of the stock and a days-to-cover ratio of 1.0 based on average volume.
• Insiders sold a total of 292,277 shares (~$2.65M) over the past three months, including Fajerman's sale of 39,477 shares at $9.53 and Rodrigues' sale of 182,800 shares at $8.82, trimming their holdings.
• Itau missed quarterly estimates with EPS of $0.17 vs. $0.20 and revenue of $8.62B vs. $8.98B, while also declaring a special dividend of $0.068 per share payable Sept. 8 (record/ex-dividend date March 23).

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 19,581,294 shares, a growth of 17.0% from the March 31st total of 16,732,904 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 20,331,249 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Itau Unibanco

In other news, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 39,477 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 1,205,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,489,768.26. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of Itau Unibanco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total transaction of $1,612,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,637,511 shares in the company, valued at $14,442,847.02. This represents a 10.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 292,277 shares of company stock valued at $2,646,512 over the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itau Unibanco

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITUB. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 18.6% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,868,048 shares of the bank's stock worth $50,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,178 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 5.3% during the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 6,162,981 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,236,000 after buying an additional 311,472 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 39.6% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 57,624,188 shares of the bank's stock worth $422,962,000 after buying an additional 16,339,845 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 0.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 41,387,090 shares of the bank's stock worth $303,781,000 after buying an additional 369,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seafarer Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Seafarer Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,909,142 shares of the bank's stock worth $78,109,000 after acquiring an additional 317,742 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITUB has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research cut Itau Unibanco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Itau Unibanco Trading Down 3.6%

Itau Unibanco stock opened at $8.54 on Thursday. Itau Unibanco has a 12 month low of $5.87 and a 12 month high of $9.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. The stock has a market cap of $94.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.65. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $8.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.95.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 20.64% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The firm had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Itau Unibanco will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.068 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. Itau Unibanco's payout ratio is currently 4.29%.

About Itau Unibanco

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.

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