U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Upgraded at DA Davidson

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) was upgraded by equities research analysts at DA Davidson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $60.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $58.00. DA Davidson’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 25.44% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on USB. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James raised U.S. Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 0.9 %

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $47.83 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $74.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.03. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $37.81 and a fifty-two week high of $53.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.08.

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

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has approved a share 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 reacquire up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the third quarter worth $40,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.