Empirical Finance LLC Raises Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 3.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 49,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $31,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other U.S. Bancorp 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 16.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

USB has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.22.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $49.90 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.99 and a 200 day moving average of $43.69. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.49 and a 1 year high of $51.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

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

U.S. Bancorp Company 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.