U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Rating Increased to Outperform at Raymond James

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) was upgraded by stock analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $57.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Raymond James’ target price suggests a potential upside of 18.95% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on USB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Compass Point upped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.68.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE USB opened at $47.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $37.81 and a 1-year high of $53.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.50.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in USB. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 4.7% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 48,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,910,000 after buying an additional 2,179 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 42,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 16.7% in the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 14,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, &PARTNERS raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 564.8% during the second quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 41,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 35,568 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.