Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 289.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 169,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,298 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $9,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,749,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,568,000 after buying an additional 41,803 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 358,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,738,000 after acquiring an additional 47,537 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,162,000. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $893,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,690,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,462,000 after purchasing an additional 357,300 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.00, for a total value of $2,280,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 207,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,813,307. This represents a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Venkatachari Dilip sold 34,522 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $1,916,661.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,292 shares in the company, valued at $2,847,731.84. This trade represents a 40.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on USB. Morgan Stanley set a $64.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $58.00 to $57.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.20.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE:USB opened at $54.85 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.69. The company has a market cap of $85.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $42.21 and a 52 week high of $61.19.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $7.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 18.01% and a return on equity of 13.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 43.61%.

About U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a bank holding company and the parent of U.S. Bank, a national commercial bank that provides a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services. The company operates through consumer and business banking, commercial banking, payment services, and wealth management segments. Its product set includes deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, credit and debit card services, treasury and cash management, merchant processing, and institutional and trust services.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.