Ellsworth Advisors LLC Acquires 4,205 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares during the period. U.S. Bancorp accounts for approximately 1.4% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $5,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 49.0% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 6,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 1,983 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 16,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 3.5% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 166,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,462,000 after purchasing an additional 5,575 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 63.2% in the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 9,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 3,868 shares during the period. Finally, Midwest Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.0% in the first quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 31,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,411,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on USB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com raised U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.34.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $49.98 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $77.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.03. 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 issued 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 return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.