AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 414.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 572,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 461,291 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $22,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morningstar Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 760.8% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 83,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after acquiring an additional 74,094 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 2,056.5% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 218,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,774,000 after purchasing an additional 208,528 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $20,188,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2,440.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 227,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,838,000 after buying an additional 218,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 200.7% during the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 18,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 12,197 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE USB opened at $45.73 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $44.54 and its 200 day moving average is $42.40. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $30.47 and a fifty-two week high of $47.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $71.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.04.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a boost 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%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 66.23%.

Insider Activity

In other U.S. Bancorp news, Director Aleem Gillani purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $44.99 per share, for a total transaction of $449,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $449,900. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

USB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Friday, September 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.34.

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.