U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Upgraded to “Buy” at HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. HSBC currently has $53.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $47.00.

USB has been the subject of several other reports. Odeon Capital Group upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $48.93 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $61.00 to $55.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. TheStreet raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a neutral rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $46.41.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

USB opened at $44.69 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.84. The company has a market cap of $69.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. U.S. Bancorp has a 12-month low of $27.27 and a 12-month high of $45.85.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 13.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 59.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total transaction of $895,005.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,837,573.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Timothy A. Welsh sold 12,100 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $487,993.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 106,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,313,616.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total transaction of $895,005.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,837,573.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 60,265 shares of company stock valued at $2,535,903. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.