U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.20.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $58.00 to $57.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of USB stock opened at $54.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $42.55 and a 1 year high of $61.19. The stock has a market cap of $85.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.00.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 18.01%.The firm had revenue of $7.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.00, for a total transaction of $2,280,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 207,251 shares in the company, valued at $11,813,307. This represents a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Venkatachari Dilip sold 34,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $1,916,661.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,847,731.84. This trade represents a 40.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of USB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 323.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,309,000 after buying an additional 36,863 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 18.9% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 39,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,658,000 after buying an additional 6,252 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth $425,000. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth $701,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a bank holding company and the parent of U.S. Bank, a national commercial bank that provides a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services. The company operates through consumer and business banking, commercial banking, payment services, and wealth management segments. Its product set includes deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, credit and debit card services, treasury and cash management, merchant processing, and institutional and trust services.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.