Versant Capital Management Inc Boosts Stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 47.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 392 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $58,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 32.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,913,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,922,784,000 after acquiring an additional 15,746,852 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 153.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,949,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,573,000 after purchasing an additional 4,807,662 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 723.7% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,821,642 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,853,000 after buying an additional 2,116,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 109.7% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,531,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,491,000 after buying an additional 1,847,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on USB shares. Evercore ISI upped 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. Citigroup upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.88.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $48.86 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.03. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $37.81 and a 52 week high of $53.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

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. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 buy up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.