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

Does the media favor WFC or USB?

In the previous week, Wells Fargo & Company had 68 more articles in the media than U.S. Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 93 mentions for Wells Fargo & Company and 25 mentions for U.S. Bancorp. U.S. Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat Wells Fargo & Company's score of 1.00 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	40 Very Positive mention(s)	32 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	8 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
U.S. Bancorp	14 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation & 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	$81.58B	2.99	$19.72B	$5.57	13.46
U.S. Bancorp	$27.58B	2.50	$6.30B	$4.04	10.94

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company received 860 more outperform votes than U.S. Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.35% of users gave Wells Fargo & Company an outperform vote while only 57.73% of users gave U.S. Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Wells Fargo & Company	Outperform Votes 1659 61.35%	Underperform Votes 1045 38.65%
U.S. Bancorp	Outperform Votes 799 57.73%	Underperform Votes 585 42.27%

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%

Do analysts prefer WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus target price of $77.68, indicating a potential upside of 3.64%. U.S. Bancorp has a consensus target price of $50.72, indicating a potential upside of 14.73%. 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)	11 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
U.S. Bancorp	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Which has more risk and volatility, WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, U.S. Bancorp has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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

75.9% of Wells Fargo & Company shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.6% of U.S. Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Wells Fargo & Company shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of U.S. Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

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 2.1%. U.S. Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Wells Fargo & Company pays out 28.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. U.S. Bancorp pays out 49.5% 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. Wells Fargo & Company has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and 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 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.