Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,079,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,132,590 shares during the period. U.S. Bancorp makes up approximately 1.5% of Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 0.65% of U.S. Bancorp worth $460,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,913,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,922,784,000 after buying an additional 15,746,852 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,328,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,164,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,336 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,869,000 after buying an additional 43,437 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,523,000 after acquiring an additional 94,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,364,000 after purchasing an additional 325,374 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 1.0 %

USB stock opened at $52.76 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $37.81 and a 52 week high of $53.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.44 and a 200 day moving average of $44.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.31 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.03.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 61.16%.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on USB. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.02.

U.S. Bancorp 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.