U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Price Target Increased to $60.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $60.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on USB. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.34.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE USB opened at $49.98 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.63. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $30.47 and a 52-week high of $50.47. 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 cap of $77.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.03.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly 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 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.23%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,853,000 after buying an additional 2,116,175 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,903,000 after buying an additional 2,046,522 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 88.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,331,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,198,000 after buying an additional 1,097,179 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,284,000 after buying an additional 967,143 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,846,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,806,000 after buying an additional 925,073 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.