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

Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.02.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on USB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson increased their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $53.66 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.23. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $36.49 and a 1-year high of $53.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $83.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 250,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,449,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 12.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 75,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,437,000 after buying an additional 8,272 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 126.1% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 44,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 24,992 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 63.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 345,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,790,000 after acquiring an additional 134,229 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

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.