U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $55.50 to $62.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the stock. U.S. Bancorp traded as high as $60.99 and last traded at $60.7670, with a volume of 714388 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.35.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.79.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Mark G. Runkel sold 32,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.65, for a total value of $1,952,626.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 97,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,927,203.20. This represents a 24.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 146,376,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,810,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828,404 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,179,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,378,808,000 after buying an additional 648,943 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,679,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,002,518,000 after buying an additional 443,646 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $1,887,497,000. Finally, Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 22,041,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,176,148,000 after acquiring an additional 2,610,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.06.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.48% and a net margin of 17.66%.The company had revenue of $7.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.02%.

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.