U.S. Bancorp (USB) Competitors

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, media sentiment, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Is USB or BAC more profitable?

U.S. Bancorp has a net margin of 16.30% compared to Bank of America's net margin of 14.81%. U.S. Bancorp's return on equity of 13.08% beat Bank of America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
U.S. Bancorp	16.30%	13.08%	1.02%
Bank of America	14.81%	10.25%	0.84%

Do analysts prefer USB or BAC?

U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $52.83, indicating a potential upside of 7.41%. Bank of America has a consensus price target of $50.92, indicating a potential downside of 1.44%. Given U.S. Bancorp's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe U.S. Bancorp is more favorable than Bank of America.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
U.S. Bancorp	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Bank of America	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.76

Which has more volatility & risk, USB or BAC?

U.S. Bancorp has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of America has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings and valuation, USB or BAC?

Bank of America has higher revenue and earnings than U.S. Bancorp. U.S. Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bank of America, 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	$42.71B	1.79	$6.30B	$4.18	11.77
Bank of America	$192.43B	1.99	$27.13B	$3.42	15.11

Does the media favor USB or BAC?

In the previous week, Bank of America had 58 more articles in the media than U.S. Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 102 mentions for Bank of America and 44 mentions for U.S. Bancorp. U.S. Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.23 beat Bank of America's score of 0.96 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	31 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Bank of America	65 Very Positive mention(s)	11 Positive mention(s)	22 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders believe in USB or BAC?

77.6% of U.S. Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.7% of Bank of America shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of U.S. Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Bank of America shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is USB or BAC a better dividend stock?

U.S. Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Bank of America pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. U.S. Bancorp pays out 47.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank of America pays out 32.7% 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 raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Bank of America has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. U.S. Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

U.S. Bancorp and Bank of America tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.