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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itaú Unibanco

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 12,592.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,484,343 shares of the bank's stock valued at $156,171,000 after buying an additional 23,299,313 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,685,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 200.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,679,311 shares of the bank's stock worth $44,847,000 after acquiring an additional 5,122,752 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 14.8% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 37,928,532 shares of the bank's stock valued at $221,505,000 after purchasing an additional 4,888,099 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 77.5% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 7,114,571 shares of the bank's stock worth $41,549,000 after purchasing an additional 3,106,130 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Itaú Unibanco from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $7.50.

Itaú Unibanco Trading Up 0.4 %

ITUB stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $5.00. The stock had a trading volume of 19,552,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,589,854. The firm has a market cap of $49.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.41, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.95. Itaú Unibanco has a twelve month low of $4.90 and a twelve month high of $7.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.09.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Itaú Unibanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.85%.

Itaú Unibanco Company Profile

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.