Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter worth $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 93.2% in the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Stephens raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.12.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB opened at $51.26 on Thursday. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $33.61 and a 1 year high of $51.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.02. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.25.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 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 analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued 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 dividend yield of 3.90%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% 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.