Ellsworth Advisors LLC Acquires 4,205 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 119,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,205 shares during the period. U.S. Bancorp makes up 1.4% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $5,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% during the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% during the second quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 65,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 4.7% during the second quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 5,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, STAR Financial Bank lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.3% during the second quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 7,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of USB stock opened at $49.98 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 12-month low of $30.47 and a 12-month high of $50.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $45.10 and a 200-day moving average of $42.63. The company has a market capitalization of $77.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.03.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.23%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on USB shares. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.34.

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.