U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Purchased by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 17.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 64,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,704 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% during the first 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 period. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,869,000 after acquiring an additional 43,437 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% during 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 period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,478,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,295,000 after purchasing an additional 271,078 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 8,921,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,800,000 after purchasing an additional 23,826 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

USB opened at $46.01 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.31. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $30.47 and a fifty-two week high of $47.31. The firm has a market cap of $71.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.04.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 66.23%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on USB. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com raised U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded U.S. Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.50 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.18.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, Director Aleem Gillani acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $44.99 per share, for a total transaction of $449,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $449,900. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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.