U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $53.98 and last traded at $53.74, with a volume of 122994 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $53.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on USB shares. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.02.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $48.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.36. The firm has a market cap of $83.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in USB. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

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.