Claro Advisors LLC Buys 1,230 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,853,000 after buying an additional 2,116,175 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046,522 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 88.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,331,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,198,000 after buying an additional 1,097,179 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,284,000 after buying an additional 967,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 15.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,846,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,806,000 after buying an additional 925,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE USB traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,542,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,348,037. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.63. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $30.47 and a one year high of $50.47.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on USB shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Friday, September 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut U.S. Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.34.

U.S. Bancorp Company Profile

U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, provides various financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional organizations, governmental entities, and other financial institutions in the United States. It operates through Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking; Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; and Treasury and Corporate Support segments.