U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Position Lowered by Equity Investment Corp

Equity Investment Corp cut its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,710,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,972 shares during the quarter. U.S. Bancorp comprises 2.6% of Equity Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Equity Investment Corp owned approximately 0.17% of U.S. Bancorp worth $114,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Aleem Gillani bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $37.32 per share, with a total value of $186,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $559,800. This represents a 50.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $45.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $35.18 and a 1 year high of $53.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $44.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.32. The stock has a market cap of $71.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.99.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.92 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 13.02%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.50%.

U.S. Bancorp 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.