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

Which has better 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	2.87	$19.72B	$5.57	12.89
U.S. Bancorp	$27.58B	2.29	$6.30B	$4.04	10.03

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

Does the media favor WFC or USB?

In the previous week, Wells Fargo & Company had 87 more articles in the media than U.S. Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 113 mentions for Wells Fargo & Company and 26 mentions for U.S. Bancorp. U.S. Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.27 beat Wells Fargo & Company's score of 0.83 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	34 Very Positive mention(s)	46 Positive mention(s)	18 Neutral mention(s)	10 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
U.S. Bancorp	18 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company received 843 more outperform votes than U.S. Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.47% of users gave Wells Fargo & Company an outperform vote while only 57.88% of users gave U.S. Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Wells Fargo & Company	Outperform Votes 1640 61.47%	Underperform Votes 1028 38.53%
U.S. Bancorp	Outperform Votes 797 57.88%	Underperform Votes 580 42.12%

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 rate WFC or USB?

Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus price target of $75.34, suggesting a potential upside of 4.94%. U.S. Bancorp has a consensus price target of $50.48, suggesting a potential upside of 24.56%. Given U.S. Bancorp's higher probable upside, analysts plainly 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)	6 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.79
U.S. Bancorp	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.52

Which has more risk and volatility, WFC or USB?

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

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 2.2%. U.S. Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. 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. 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.