U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.68.

A number of research firms recently commented on USB. Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE USB opened at $47.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $50.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.55. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $37.81 and a 12 month high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 32.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,913,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,922,784,000 after purchasing an additional 15,746,852 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 153.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,949,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,573,000 after purchasing an additional 4,807,662 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 723.7% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,864,000 after buying an additional 2,821,642 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,903,000 after buying an additional 2,046,522 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About U.S. Bancorp

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.