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

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 34,461,089 shares, an increase of 115.0% from the April 30th total of 16,028,251 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 30,218,218 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ITUB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research lowered Itau Unibanco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.00.

Itau Unibanco Stock Performance

NYSE ITUB traded up $0.02 on Friday, hitting $7.90. 22,119,233 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,817,636. The business’s fifty day moving average is $8.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.10. Itau Unibanco has a 12 month low of $5.93 and a 12 month high of $9.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.83, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The bank reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 21.27%. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.41 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Itau Unibanco will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Itau Unibanco

In related 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Rodrigues Andre Luis Teixeira sold 182,800 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 1,637,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,442,847.02. The trade was a 10.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 292,277 shares of company stock valued at $2,646,512 in the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itau Unibanco

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 332.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,966 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 5,355 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,642 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,901 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco in the third quarter worth $57,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Itau Unibanco in the first quarter worth $59,000.

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.