Smith Moore & CO. Has $1.15 Million Holdings in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Smith Moore & CO. trimmed its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,537 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $971,285,000. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 29.8% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $138,183,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 141,230,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,962,742,000 after buying an additional 2,393,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,070,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493,318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total value of $6,508,221.30. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,360,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,041,584.76. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on USB shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.45.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of USB opened at $49.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.48 and a 200-day moving average of $46.55. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $35.18 and a 52 week high of $53.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend 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.