Short Interest in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Declines By 32.9%

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,830,000 shares, a drop of 32.9% from the March 15th total of 22,090,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.66.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of USB stock traded up $0.72 on Wednesday, reaching $39.72. The company had a trading volume of 8,435,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,026,989. The stock has a market cap of $61.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.19 and a 200-day moving average of $46.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $35.18 and a 12 month high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. U.S. Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 49.50%.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $3,114,246.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 209,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,837,274.72. This trade represents a 24.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.25, for a total value of $4,821,579.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,230,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,132,431. This represents a 7.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 219,812 shares of company stock valued at $10,385,665 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $229,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 846,344 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,704,000 after purchasing an additional 22,803 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,160,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $229,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 6.0% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,619 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company's stock.

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.