U.S. Bancorp (USB) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility & risk, USB or WFC?

U.S. Bancorp has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wells Fargo & Company has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in USB or WFC?

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

Do analysts rate USB or WFC?

U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $53.68, indicating a potential upside of 12.01%. Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus target price of $67.49, indicating a potential downside of 4.05%. Given U.S. Bancorp's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe U.S. Bancorp is more favorable than Wells Fargo & Company.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
U.S. Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.47
Wells Fargo & Company	0 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is USB or WFC a better dividend stock?

U.S. Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Wells Fargo & Company pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. U.S. Bancorp pays out 61.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Wells Fargo & Company pays out 33.3% 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer USB or WFC?

Wells Fargo & Company received 772 more outperform votes than U.S. Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.20% of users gave Wells Fargo & Company an outperform vote while only 57.54% of users gave U.S. Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
U.S. Bancorp	Outperform Votes 778 57.54%	Underperform Votes 574 42.46%
Wells Fargo & Company	Outperform Votes 1550 62.20%	Underperform Votes 942 37.80%

Does the media refer more to USB or WFC?

In the previous week, Wells Fargo & Company had 32 more articles in the media than U.S. Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 53 mentions for Wells Fargo & Company and 21 mentions for U.S. Bancorp. U.S. Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.76 beat Wells Fargo & Company's score of 0.60 indicating that U.S. Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
U.S. Bancorp	7 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Wells Fargo & Company	19 Very Positive mention(s)	22 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is USB or WFC more profitable?

Wells Fargo & Company has a net margin of 14.43% compared to U.S. Bancorp's net margin of 12.92%. U.S. Bancorp's return on equity of 12.91% beat Wells Fargo & Company's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
U.S. Bancorp	12.92%	12.91%	0.96%
Wells Fargo & Company	14.43%	12.25%	1.04%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, USB or WFC?

Wells Fargo & Company has higher revenue and earnings than U.S. Bancorp. Wells Fargo & Company is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than U.S. Bancorp, 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
U.S. Bancorp	$27.09B	2.76	$5.43B	$3.27	14.65
Wells Fargo & Company	$82.40B	2.84	$19.14B	$4.81	14.62

Summary

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