U.S. Bancorp $USB Shares Acquired by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 4.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Curbstone Financial Management Corp increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.6% during the second quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 39,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5.3% during the second quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 4,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 5,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE now owns 46,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Finally, Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE:USB opened at $47.84 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $35.18 and a one year high of $53.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $74.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $48.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.05.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total transaction of $6,508,221.30. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,360,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,041,584.76. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

USB has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on 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. TD Cowen upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial raised U.S. Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.55.

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.