U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Acquired by Equity Investment Corp

Equity Investment Corp raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,754,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 78,064 shares during the quarter. U.S. Bancorp makes up about 2.9% of Equity Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Equity Investment Corp owned 0.18% of U.S. Bancorp worth $125,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in USB. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on USB shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.22.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 0.8 %

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $49.90 on Monday. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.49 and a fifty-two week high of $51.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $77.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.73.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion for 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 for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share 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 given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.