CWA Asset Management Group LLC Takes Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in USB. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,175 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,903,000 after buying an additional 2,046,522 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,284,000 after buying an additional 967,143 shares during the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $43,619,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,846,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,806,000 after buying an additional 925,073 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE USB opened at $50.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.02. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $33.61 and a twelve month high of $51.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.60 and a 200 day moving average of $43.46.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on USB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer boosted 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, November 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price target 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.12.

U.S. Bancorp 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.