U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Stake Boosted by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 190,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,734 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $8,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter worth $33,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE USB opened at $53.63 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.15. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $36.49 and a 52-week high of $53.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.02.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value 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. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.23% of the stock is currently 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.