Short Interest in Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBD) Expands By 38.3%

Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBD - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 160,250,000 shares, an increase of 38.3% from the January 15th total of 115,910,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 40,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Banco Bradesco by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,989,586 shares of the bank's stock worth $120,122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,470 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 71.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,778,647 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,715,000 after purchasing an additional 6,551,698 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Bradesco in the fourth quarter worth $66,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Banco Bradesco by 152.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 274,790 shares of the bank's stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 166,008 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Banco Bradesco by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,032,246 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,792,000 after purchasing an additional 127,225 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BBD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Banco Bradesco from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. HSBC raised Banco Bradesco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $2.80 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Banco Bradesco from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $2.40 to $2.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Banco Bradesco Price Performance

Banco Bradesco stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.17. The company had a trading volume of 39,003,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,814,383. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.38. The company has a market cap of $23.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.94. Banco Bradesco has a fifty-two week low of $1.84 and a fifty-two week high of $2.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The bank reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.09. Banco Bradesco had a return on equity of 10.17% and a net margin of 7.43%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Banco Bradesco will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Bradesco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.0033 per share. This is a boost from Banco Bradesco's previous monthly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Banco Bradesco's payout ratio is 11.54%.

Banco Bradesco Company Profile

Banco Bradesco SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to individuals, corporates, and businesses in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It provides current, savings, click, and salary accounts; real estate credit, vehicle financing, payroll loans, mortgage loans, microcredit, leasing, and personal and installment credit; overdraft and agribusiness loans; debit and business cards; financial and security services; consortium products; car, personal accident, dental, travel, and life insurance; investment products; pension products; foreign currency exchange services; capitalization bonds; and internet banking services.