Short Interest in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Drops By 15.3%

Key Points

• Short interest in Itau Unibanco fell 15.3% to 16,732,904 shares as of March 31, about 0.2% of the stock, with a days-to-cover ratio of 0.5 days.
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" on ITUB with a $9.00 target; JPMorgan raised its price target to $9 and the stock has two Buy and two Hold ratings.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 16,732,904 shares, a decline of 15.3% from the March 15th total of 19,746,435 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 31,846,243 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ITUB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Itau Unibanco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Itau Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of Itau Unibanco stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.38. The company had a trading volume of 27,982,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,111,023. The stock has a market cap of $103.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.65. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.81. Itau Unibanco has a 12-month low of $5.46 and a 12-month high of $9.60.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.98 billion. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 20.64% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, analysts predict that Itau Unibanco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd will be given a $0.068 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 23rd. Itau Unibanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Itau Unibanco news, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total transaction of $1,612,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,637,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,442,847.02. This represents a 10.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Fajerman Sergio Guillinet sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,245,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,766,374.55. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 252,800 shares of company stock valued at $2,270,296. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itau Unibanco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 332.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,966 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 5,355 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,642 shares of the bank's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Itau Unibanco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Itau Unibanco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,000.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.