New Hampshire Trust Raises Stock Holdings in U.S. Bancorp $USB

New Hampshire Trust increased its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the period. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in USB. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter worth $25,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter worth $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter worth $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 59.4% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 118.0% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 approximately $63,041,584.76. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were 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 $10,607,932.50. This trade represents 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

A number of brokerages have issued reports on USB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.55.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:USB opened at $48.31 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $48.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.19. The company has a market capitalization of $75.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $35.18 and a 1-year high of $53.98.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $7.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

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

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.