Banco Bradesco SA (NYSE:BBD) Short Interest Down 74.9% in March

Banco Bradesco SA (NYSE:BBD) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 10,518,511 shares, a decline of 74.9% from the March 15th total of 41,838,178 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 35,171,212 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BBD shares. Itau BBA Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Banco Bradesco in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Banco Bradesco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Bradesco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Banco Bradesco by 100.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,685 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 4,353 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Banco Bradesco by 1,276.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 10,613 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 9,842 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Banco Bradesco in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in Banco Bradesco in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Banco Bradesco by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,641 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 3,619 shares during the period.

Banco Bradesco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBD traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $4.10. The company had a trading volume of 32,267,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,186,472. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $3.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $43.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.55. Banco Bradesco has a 52-week low of $2.16 and a 52-week high of $4.28.

Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Banco Bradesco had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 13.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banco Bradesco will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Bradesco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be paid a $0.0037 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from Banco Bradesco’s previous monthly dividend of $0.00. Banco Bradesco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.26%.

About Banco Bradesco

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.