Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 12.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 190,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,734 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $8,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.5% during the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 8,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% during the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 12,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% in the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.02.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE USB opened at $53.63 on Tuesday. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $36.49 and a 1-year high of $53.93. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.15. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $83.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.