LS Investment Advisors LLC Trims Position in U.S. Bancorp $USB

LS Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 17.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,350 shares during the quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $3,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $971,285,000. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 29.8% during the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 19,331,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $874,757,000 after buying an additional 4,442,623 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1,589.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,472,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,119,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266,724 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 354.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,855,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,205,000 after acquiring an additional 2,227,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 143,269,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,482,935,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,996 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total value of $6,508,221.30. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,360,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,041,584.76. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total transaction of $1,260,955.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 226,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,607,932.50. The trade was a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on USB. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.95.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE USB opened at $53.90 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.16. U.S. Bancorp has a 12-month low of $35.18 and a 12-month high of $55.15. The firm has a market cap of $83.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 16.89%.U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

U.S. Bancorp Company Profile

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a bank holding company and the parent of U.S. Bank, a national commercial bank that provides a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services. The company operates through consumer and business banking, commercial banking, payment services, and wealth management segments. Its product set includes deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, credit and debit card services, treasury and cash management, merchant processing, and institutional and trust services.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.