Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its U.S. Bancorp stake by 0.9% in the first quarter, ending with 10.37 million shares worth about $539.2 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on USB has turned more constructive, with multiple firms raising price targets and Evercore upgrading the stock to outperform with a $72 target. The consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with an average price target of $67.
• U.S. Bancorp reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.35 on revenue of $7.71 billion, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, implying a 3.3% annual yield.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,369,212 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 93,025 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.67% of U.S. Bancorp worth $539,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Inceptionr LLC raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 424.4% in the fourth quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 27,614 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,473,000 after buying an additional 22,348 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,690,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $144,462,000 after acquiring an additional 357,300 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 30,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 21,907 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 285,196 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,218,000 after acquiring an additional 42,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $2,856,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on USB shares. Stephens lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. BTIG Research set a $67.50 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised U.S. Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Key Headlines Impacting U.S. Bancorp

Here are the key news stories impacting U.S. Bancorp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore upgraded U.S. Bancorp (USB) from “in-line” to “outperform” and set a $72 price target, implying meaningful upside from current levels. Read More
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded U.S. Bancorp (USB) from “underweight” to “neutral” and raised its target to $67.50, citing improving prospects tied to growth in fee revenue. Read More
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted U.S. Bancorp (USB) as a strong dividend stock, reinforcing the bank’s appeal to income-focused investors. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional coverage compared USB with other finance stocks this year, but did not indicate a major new fundamental catalyst. Article

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Venkatachari Dilip sold 34,522 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $1,916,661.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 51,292 shares in the company, valued at $2,847,731.84. This represents a 40.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE USB opened at $63.15 on Tuesday. U.S. Bancorp has a 12-month low of $43.46 and a 12-month high of $64.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $97.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.96.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.07. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 18.49%.The firm had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

About U.S. Bancorp

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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