Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC lessened its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,715 shares during the period. U.S. Bancorp comprises 3.1% of Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $5,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,371,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,051,096,000 after purchasing an additional 502,776 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,869,000 after buying an additional 43,437 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,523,000 after buying an additional 94,841 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,364,000 after acquiring an additional 325,374 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,478,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,295,000 after acquiring an additional 271,078 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on USB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.71.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of USB stock opened at $49.16 on Friday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $45.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.03. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $30.47 and a 52-week high of $50.47.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 66.23%.

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