U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a market perform rating and set a $45.00 target price (down previously from $52.00) on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut U.S. Bancorp from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $43.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $45.84.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $39.04 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $30.47 and a 52-week high of $45.85.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 64.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in USB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $827,370,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,513,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,513,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,479,642 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $154,517,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 33,719,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,459,363,000 after acquiring an additional 2,598,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $92,192,000. 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.