Wells Fargo & Company Raises U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Price Target to $62.00

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $62.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

USB has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.22.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $49.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.99 and a 200-day moving average of $43.73. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $36.49 and a 52-week high of $51.76.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 61.16%.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter worth $31,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% 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.