Short Interest in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Drops By 6.2%

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,740,000 shares, a decline of 6.2% from the September 30th total of 29,580,000 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 19,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, UBS Group cut shares of Itaú Unibanco from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Itaú Unibanco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,071 shares of the bank's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 2,469 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in Itaú Unibanco by 571.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,888 shares of the bank's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 5,862 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco during the third quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Itaú Unibanco in the second quarter valued at approximately $65,000.

Itaú Unibanco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITUB traded down $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $6.04. The stock had a trading volume of 13,844,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,832,977. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $6.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Itaú Unibanco has a twelve month low of $5.27 and a twelve month high of $7.27. The company has a market capitalization of $59.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.97.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The bank reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.01. Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 19.14%. The firm had revenue of $16.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Itaú Unibanco will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.0031 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Itaú Unibanco's dividend payout ratio is currently 3.95%.

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.