Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 3,599 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 2.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 119,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,599 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $4,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 93.2% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $44.25 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.43. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $30.47 and a 52-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 stock has a market capitalization of $69.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.04.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 4.52%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Aleem Gillani purchased 10,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $44.99 per share, for a total transaction of $449,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $449,900. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.65.

U.S. Bancorp 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.