Aspen Capital Management LLC Takes $10.01 Million Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Aspen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 237,194 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,014,000. U.S. Bancorp comprises approximately 3.2% of Aspen Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $777,524,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,787,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $802,947,000 after acquiring an additional 5,449,949 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 414.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 67,125,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,210,624,000 after acquiring an additional 3,211,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,050,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $815,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670,305 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE:USB opened at $45.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.27. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $35.18 and a 52-week high of $53.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.99.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 16.30%. The business had revenue of $7.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorp's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. U.S. Bancorp's payout ratio is 49.50%.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, Director Aleem Gillani bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $37.32 per share, for a total transaction of $186,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $559,800. This represents a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. TD Cowen began coverage on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.36.

U.S. Bancorp 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.

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