Kimelman & Baird LLC Makes New Investment in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of USB. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,175 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $92,192,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,903,000 after buying an additional 2,046,522 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 88.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,331,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,198,000 after buying an additional 1,097,179 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,284,000 after acquiring an additional 967,143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on USB. StockNews.com raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.34.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $45.73 on Tuesday. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $30.47 and a 52 week high of $47.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.40. The stock has a market cap of $71.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. U.S. Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 66.23%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding 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 usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, Director Aleem Gillani acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $44.99 per share, with a total value of $449,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $449,900. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.