Short Interest in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Declines By 26.4%

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 25,630,000 shares, a decrease of 26.4% from the June 15th total of 34,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 18,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of Itaú Unibanco stock opened at $6.19 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.48. Itaú Unibanco has a 12-month low of $5.12 and a 12-month high of $7.27.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The bank reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The firm had revenue of $8.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.34 billion. Itaú Unibanco had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 11.09%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Itaú Unibanco will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a $0.0478 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. This is an increase from Itaú Unibanco’s previous Variable dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio is 4.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ITUB. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 191.9% in the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 33,040,433 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $228,968,000 after purchasing an additional 21,720,091 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 52,322,490 shares of the bank’s stock worth $363,641,000 after acquiring an additional 15,908,536 shares during the period. Carmignac Gestion bought a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the 4th quarter worth $92,644,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 460.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,262,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,766,000 after acquiring an additional 12,539,737 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the 4th quarter worth $23,769,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Morgan Stanley upgraded Itaú Unibanco from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th.

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.