U.S. Bancorp (USB) Competitors

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, risk and community ranking.

Do analysts recommend WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus price target of $74.18, suggesting a potential downside of 0.12%. U.S. Bancorp has a consensus price target of $53.48, suggesting a potential upside of 22.37%. Given U.S. Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe U.S. Bancorp is more favorable than Wells Fargo & Company.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wells Fargo & Company	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.55
U.S. Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Is WFC or USB more profitable?

Wells Fargo & Company has a net margin of 15.73% compared to U.S. Bancorp's net margin of 14.75%. U.S. Bancorp's return on equity of 12.94% beat Wells Fargo & Company's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wells Fargo & Company	15.73%	12.38%	1.04%
U.S. Bancorp	14.75%	12.94%	0.97%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company received 824 more outperform votes than U.S. Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.50% of users gave Wells Fargo & Company an outperform vote while only 57.71% of users gave U.S. Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Wells Fargo & Company	Outperform Votes 1610 61.50%	Underperform Votes 1008 38.50%
U.S. Bancorp	Outperform Votes 786 57.71%	Underperform Votes 576 42.29%

Which has better valuation and earnings, WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company has higher revenue and earnings than U.S. Bancorp. U.S. Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wells Fargo & Company, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wells Fargo & Company	$82.30B	2.97	$19.72B	$5.38	13.80
U.S. Bancorp	$27.34B	2.49	$6.30B	$3.79	11.53

Is WFC or USB a better dividend stock?

Wells Fargo & Company pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. U.S. Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Wells Fargo & Company pays out 29.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. U.S. Bancorp pays out 52.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. U.S. Bancorp has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. U.S. Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, U.S. Bancorp has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to WFC or USB?

In the previous week, Wells Fargo & Company had 29 more articles in the media than U.S. Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 63 mentions for Wells Fargo & Company and 34 mentions for U.S. Bancorp. Wells Fargo & Company's average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat U.S. Bancorp's score of 1.12 indicating that Wells Fargo & Company is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Wells Fargo & Company	50 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
U.S. Bancorp	24 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in WFC or USB?

75.9% of Wells Fargo & Company shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.6% of U.S. Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Wells Fargo & Company shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of U.S. Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Wells Fargo & Company beats U.S. Bancorp on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.