U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $54.64 and last traded at $54.4930, with a volume of 443478 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $54.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

USB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.95.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $84.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 13.34%. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other U.S. Bancorp news, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total transaction of $6,508,221.30. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,360,414 shares in the company, valued at $63,041,584.76. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total transaction of $1,260,955.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 226,375 shares in the company, valued at $10,607,932.50. The trade was a 10.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in USB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $971,285,000. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 29.8% in the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 19,331,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $874,757,000 after purchasing an additional 4,442,623 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1,589.4% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,472,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,119,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266,724 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 354.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,855,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,227,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 143,269,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,482,935,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,996 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

U.S. Bancorp Company Profile

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a bank holding company and the parent of U.S. Bank, a national commercial bank that provides a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services. The company operates through consumer and business banking, commercial banking, payment services, and wealth management segments. Its product set includes deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, credit and debit card services, treasury and cash management, merchant processing, and institutional and trust services.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.