Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 75,104 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,763,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 75,104 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of U.S. Bancorp worth $80,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,371,282 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,051,096,000 after buying an additional 502,776 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $564,869,000 after acquiring an additional 43,437 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $528,523,000 after purchasing an additional 94,841 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $491,364,000 after purchasing an additional 325,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,852,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $478,118,000 after purchasing an additional 373,559 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 1.3 %

USB stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $50.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,615,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,218,101. The company's fifty day moving average price is $46.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.37. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $33.61 and a twelve month high of $51.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. U.S. Bancorp's revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About U.S. Bancorp

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.