Short Interest in Itochu Corp. (OTCMKTS:ITOCY) Rises By 80.4%

Itochu Corp. (OTCMKTS:ITOCY) was the target of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 479,668 shares, an increase of 80.4% from the May 14th total of 265,913 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,152,758 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITOCY has been the topic of several research reports. Daiwa Securities Group raised Itochu to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Nomura raised Itochu to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aristotle Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Itochu during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,487,000. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in Itochu by 898.1% during the 1st quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 15,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 13,993 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Itochu during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $279,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Itochu by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Itochu by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Itochu Stock Performance

Shares of ITOCY stock traded down $0.20 on Tuesday, hitting $11.59. 285,253 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 471,119. Itochu has a 1-year low of $9.98 and a 1-year high of $15.10. The company has a market capitalization of $91.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $12.32 and its 200 day moving average is $35.24.

Itochu (OTCMKTS:ITOCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18. The company had revenue of $24.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.52 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Itochu will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itochu Company Profile

Itochu Corporation is a major Japanese trading company (sogo shosha) that operates a diversified global business spanning trading, investment and services. The company traces its roots to the 19th century and has evolved from a textile trading firm into a broad-based commercial and investment group. Its American Depositary Receipts trade over the counter under the symbol ITOCY.

Itochu conducts commodity and product trading across a wide range of sectors including textiles and apparel, machinery, metals and minerals, energy and chemicals, food and consumer products, information and communications technology, and real estate.