Verity & Verity LLC Buys Shares of 5,902 U.S. Bancorp $USB

Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 29.8% in the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 19,331,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $874,757,000 after acquiring an additional 4,442,623 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $138,183,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 141,230,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,962,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393,383 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,070,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 192.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,994,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,311,746 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB opened at $48.41 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $47.53 and its 200-day moving average is $46.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.10. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $35.18 and a fifty-two week high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.11. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The firm had revenue of $7.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on USB. DA Davidson raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $52.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other U.S. Bancorp news, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total value of $6,508,221.30. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,360,414 shares in the company, valued at $63,041,584.76. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total value of $1,260,955.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 226,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,607,932.50. The trade was a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.