First Western Trust Bank Buys Shares of 4,398 U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Davis Selected Advisers grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $564,869,000 after purchasing an additional 43,437 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,523,000 after acquiring an additional 94,841 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,364,000 after purchasing an additional 325,374 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,852,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $478,118,000 after buying an additional 373,559 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,962,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $276,407,000 after buying an additional 20,928 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on USB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens increased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price target on U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.22.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. The trade was 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 hyperlink. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of USB stock opened at $50.61 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $78.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.02. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.49 and a 1 year high of $51.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.79.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.