U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB opened at $49.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.58. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $30.47 and a 52-week high of $50.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.03.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on USB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.14.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.