Evercore ISI Issues Positive Forecast for U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Stock Price

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) had its price target lifted by Evercore ISI from $51.00 to $54.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Stephens raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 target price on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.87.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB opened at $47.84 on Wednesday. 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 capitalization of $74.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $46.23 and a 200 day moving average of $43.06. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $32.39 and a 12 month high of $50.47.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp 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 sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,175 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046,522 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1,554.3% during the third quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,503,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,743 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 88.9% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,331,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,284,000 after purchasing an additional 967,143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

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.