Ariel Investments LLC Cuts Stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Ariel Investments LLC cut its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 156,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,075 shares during the quarter. Ariel Investments LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $6,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 93.2% during the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $31,000. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other U.S. Bancorp news, Director Aleem Gillani purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $44.99 per share, with a total value of $449,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $449,900. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on USB. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Friday, September 13th. 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.18.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $44.75 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $44.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.34. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $30.47 and a 52 week high of $47.31. The company has a market cap of $69.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.82, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.04.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 66.23%.

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.