Acropolis Investment Management LLC Grows Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 6.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 276,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,363,000 after acquiring an additional 16,686 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. PGGM Investments bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $301,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 125.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 596,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,670,000 after purchasing an additional 331,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 16.9% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $53.29 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $37.67 and a 1 year high of $53.98. 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 stock has a market cap of $83.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $48.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.44.

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

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on USB shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup raised U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.02.

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.