Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC Sells 1,715 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 110,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,715 shares during the period. U.S. Bancorp accounts for about 3.1% of Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $5,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 65,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 5,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, STAR Financial Bank raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 7,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

USB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.71.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $49.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.66. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $30.47 and a one year high of $50.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 66.23%.

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.