U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $59.00 to $64.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. U.S. Bancorp traded as high as $50.63 and last traded at $50.53, with a volume of 219061 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.61.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 6.6% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 536,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,541,000 after acquiring an additional 33,408 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 40.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 37,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,712,000 after purchasing an additional 10,724 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $220,000. D Orazio & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $263,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 31.5% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 192,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,795,000 after purchasing an additional 46,112 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 6.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.30 and its 200 day moving average is $43.19. The stock has a market cap of $78.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 61.16%.

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

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.