Short Interest in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Rises By 47.5%

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,170,000 shares, an increase of 47.5% from the November 30th total of 11,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 25,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

ITUB traded up $0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $4.99. The stock had a trading volume of 7,552,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,539,732. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. Itaú Unibanco has a 12 month low of $4.90 and a 12 month high of $7.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.10. The firm has a market cap of $48.91 billion, a PE ratio of 6.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.95.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.0031 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is currently 3.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Itaú Unibanco from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Itaú Unibanco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank’s stock worth $338,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,604,304 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,899,587 shares of the bank’s stock worth $174,930,000 after buying an additional 346,390 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 178,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 54,172 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,556 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 2,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,685,000.

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.