U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Short Interest Update

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,830,000 shares, a drop of 32.9% from the March 15th total of 22,090,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 11,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.66.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $38.21 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $35.18 and a 12 month high of $53.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.79. The firm has a market cap of $59.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.06. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.23%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,114,246.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 209,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,837,274.72. This trade represents a 24.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.25, for a total value of $4,821,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,230,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,132,431. The trade was a 7.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 219,812 shares of company stock valued at $10,385,665 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $777,524,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,787,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,947,000 after buying an additional 5,449,949 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 153.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,949,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,573,000 after buying an additional 4,807,662 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 414.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,789,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,915,000 after acquiring an additional 4,663,518 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $184,733,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.