Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 40,853 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 178% compared to the average daily volume of 14,691 put options.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:USB opened at $39.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $27.27 and a 52 week high of $45.85. The firm has a market cap of $61.45 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.31 and its 200-day moving average is $39.72.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 59.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on USB. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TheStreet raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total value of $895,005.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 164,880 shares in the company, valued at $6,837,573.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,583 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.37, for a total value of $1,152,904.71. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 144,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,255,515.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total transaction of $895,005.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,880 shares in the company, valued at $6,837,573.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of USB. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 35,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 62,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 15,665 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,073,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 19.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,677,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410,324 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 104.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 105,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,548,000 after acquiring an additional 53,653 shares during the last quarter. 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.