Ascent Group LLC Purchases 6,941 Shares of U.S. Bancorp $USB

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC has increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 12.5%, now owning 62,322 shares worth approximately $2.63 million, reflecting growing institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have raised target prices for U.S. Bancorp, with Oppenheimer projecting a target increase from $66 to $67 and other firms issuing "buy" or "strong-buy" ratings, indicating positive market sentiment.
• U.S. Bancorp reported an EPS of $1.11 in its latest earnings, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, maintaining a yield of 4.1%.

Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,322 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,941 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 141,230,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,962,742,000 after buying an additional 2,393,383 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 19,907,665 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $773,268,000 after buying an additional 422,050 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,050,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $815,529,000 after buying an additional 1,670,305 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,889,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $628,614,000 after buying an additional 513,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,574,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $601,458,000 after buying an additional 1,339,493 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

USB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Cowen started coverage on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, EVP Souheil Badran sold 23,727 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total value of $1,099,509.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 70,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,259,833.64. This represents a 25.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

USB stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.60. 9,279,967 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,044,219. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $35.18 and a 52 week high of $53.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 16.30% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The business had revenue of $7.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. U.S. Bancorp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. U.S. Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 47.85%.

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.