Bray Capital Advisors Sells 1,479 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Bray Capital Advisors decreased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 4.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 31,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,479 shares during the quarter. Bray Capital Advisors’ holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $20,188,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 6.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 276,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,363,000 after acquiring an additional 16,686 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $732,000. Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 11.2% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 564,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,231,000 after acquiring an additional 56,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 73.9% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 314,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,570,000 after purchasing an additional 133,498 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on USB. Barclays raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.12.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:USB opened at $50.21 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $33.61 and a 1 year high of $51.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.36. The stock has a market cap of $78.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.