U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Given New $52.00 Price Target at Stephens

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) had its price target increased by Stephens from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on USB. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut U.S. Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.71.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $49.16 on Thursday. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $30.47 and a twelve month high of $50.47. The firm has a market cap of $76.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.23%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,371,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,051,096,000 after buying an additional 502,776 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% during the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $564,869,000 after purchasing an additional 43,437 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,523,000 after purchasing an additional 94,841 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,364,000 after buying an additional 325,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,478,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,295,000 after buying an additional 271,078 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.