Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) Competitors

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

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, 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	2.51	$19.72B	$5.38	11.74
U.S. Bancorp	$27.34B	2.17	$6.30B	$3.79	10.06

Which has more volatility & risk, WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, U.S. Bancorp has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus target price of $74.88, indicating a potential upside of 18.53%. U.S. Bancorp has a consensus target price of $52.52, indicating a potential upside of 37.71%. Given U.S. Bancorp's higher probable upside, 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
Wells Fargo & Company	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71
U.S. Bancorp	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.52

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership 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 company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of U.S. Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company received 835 more outperform votes than U.S. Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.54% of users gave Wells Fargo & Company an outperform vote while only 57.72% of users gave U.S. Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Wells Fargo & Company	Outperform Votes 1624 61.54%	Underperform Votes 1015 38.46%
U.S. Bancorp	Outperform Votes 789 57.72%	Underperform Votes 578 42.28%

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 media refer more to WFC or USB?

In the previous week, Wells Fargo & Company had 128 more articles in the media than U.S. Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 171 mentions for Wells Fargo & Company and 43 mentions for U.S. Bancorp. U.S. Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat Wells Fargo & Company's score of 0.76 indicating that U.S. Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Wells Fargo & Company	70 Very Positive mention(s)	47 Positive mention(s)	30 Neutral mention(s)	13 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
U.S. Bancorp	28 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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 2.5%. U.S. Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. 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 raised 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.

Summary

Wells Fargo & Company beats U.S. Bancorp on 15 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.