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 stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and community ranking.

Does the media favor USB or WFC?

In the previous week, Wells Fargo & Company had 44 more articles in the media than U.S. Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 71 mentions for Wells Fargo & Company and 27 mentions for U.S. Bancorp. U.S. Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.54 beat Wells Fargo & Company's score of 0.87 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	25 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Wells Fargo & Company	34 Very Positive mention(s)	23 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	9 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings & valuation, USB or WFC?

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
U.S. Bancorp	$27.58B	2.47	$6.30B	$4.04	10.81
Wells Fargo & Company	$81.58B	2.96	$19.72B	$5.57	13.33

Is USB or WFC 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
U.S. Bancorp	14.75%	12.94%	0.97%
Wells Fargo & Company	15.73%	12.38%	1.04%

Do institutionals & 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 large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

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 4.6%. Wells Fargo & Company pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. U.S. Bancorp pays out 49.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Wells Fargo & Company pays out 28.7% 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 and Wells Fargo & Company has increased its dividend for 4 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 volatility & risk, USB or WFC?

U.S. Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wells Fargo & Company has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in USB or WFC?

Wells Fargo & Company received 846 more outperform votes than U.S. Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.38% of users gave Wells Fargo & Company an outperform vote while only 57.94% of users gave U.S. Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
U.S. Bancorp	Outperform Votes 799 57.94%	Underperform Votes 580 42.06%
Wells Fargo & Company	Outperform Votes 1645 61.38%	Underperform Votes 1035 38.62%

Do analysts recommend USB or WFC?

U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $50.89, suggesting a potential upside of 16.49%. Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus target price of $75.73, suggesting a potential upside of 1.98%. 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
U.S. Bancorp	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
Wells Fargo & Company	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Summary

Wells Fargo & Company beats U.S. Bancorp on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.