Cypress Capital Group Purchases New Stake in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Key Points

• Cypress Capital Group initiated a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter, buying 117,126 shares valued at about $6.09 million.
• Analysts have turned more positive on USB, with several firms raising ratings and price targets; the stock now carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target of $67.
• U.S. Bancorp reported better-than-expected Q2 results, posting EPS of $1.35 on revenue of $7.71 billion, and also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share for a 3.3% annualized yield.

Cypress Capital Group acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 117,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,092,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,780 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 13,721 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.8% during the first quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 23,373 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,247,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 4.0% in the first quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 4,920 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 10,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on USB shares. Evercore raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised U.S. Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $67.50 in a report on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.00.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:USB opened at $63.91 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $43.46 and a 52 week high of $64.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $99.14 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.42.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 18.49% and a return on equity of 13.69%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other U.S. Bancorp news, EVP Venkatachari Dilip sold 34,522 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $1,916,661.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,731.84. The trade was a 40.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

U.S. Bancorp 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.

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