Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Wells Fargo & Company or U.S. Bancorp because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.
Read on to learn how Wells Fargo & Company and U.S. Bancorp compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.
About Wells Fargo & Company and U.S. Bancorp
Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management. The company’s financial products and services includes checking and savings accounts, and credit and debit cards, as well as home, auto, personal, and small business lending services. It also provides personalized wealth management, brokerage, financial planning, lending, private banking, trust and fiduciary products and services; and financial solutions to private, family owned and public companies through products and services including banking and credit products across multiple industry sectors and municipalities, secured lending and lease products, and treasury management. In addition, it offers a suite of capital markets, banking, and financial products and services, such as corporate banking, investment banking, treasury management, commercial real estate lending and servicing, equity, and fixed income solutions, as well as sales, trading, and research capabilities services to corporate, commercial real estate, government, and institutional clients. Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, provides various financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional organizations, governmental entities, and other financial institutions in the United States. The company operates through Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking; Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; and Treasury and Corporate Support segments. It offers depository services, including checking accounts, savings accounts, and time certificate contracts; and lending services, such as traditional credit products and credit card services, lease financing and import/export trade, agricultural finance, asset-backed lending, and other products. The company also provides cash management, capital markets, and trust and investment management services; and ancillary services comprising capital markets, treasury management, and receivable lock-box collection services to corporate and governmental entity customers. In addition, it offers asset management and fiduciary services for individuals, estates, foundations, business corporations, and charitable organizations; and investment and insurance products to its customers principally within its domestic markets, as well as fund administration services to mutual and other funds. Further, the company provides corporate and purchasing card, and corporate trust services; and credit card services, merchant and ATM processing, mortgage banking, insurance, brokerage and leasing services. U.S. Bancorp was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Latest Banks and Wells Fargo & Company, U.S. Bancorp Stock News
As of September 10, 2026, Wells Fargo & Company had a $270.5 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $755.7 million. Wells Fargo & Company’s stock is down 3.1% in 2026, up 1.2% in the previous five trading days and up 10.76% in the past year.
Currently, Wells Fargo & Company’s price-earnings ratio is 13.0. Wells Fargo & Company’s trailing 12-month revenue is $83.0 billion with a 27.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 9.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $7.201 per share for the current fiscal year. Wells Fargo & Company currently has a 2.2% dividend yield.
As of September 10, 2026, U.S. Bancorp had a $97.2 billion market cap, putting it in the 97th percentile of all stocks. U.S. Bancorp’s stock is up 17.8% in 2026, down 1.1% in the previous five trading days and up 26.41% in the past year.
Currently, U.S. Bancorp’s price-earnings ratio is 12.5. U.S. Bancorp’s trailing 12-month revenue is $27.3 billion with a 29.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 10.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.240 per share for the current fiscal year. U.S. Bancorp currently has a 3.3% dividend yield.
How We Compare Wells Fargo & Company and U.S. Bancorp Stock Grades
Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.
AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Wells Fargo & Company and U.S. Bancorp’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.
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Wells Fargo & Company and U.S. Bancorp Stock Value Grades
| Company | Ticker | Value |
| Wells Fargo & Company | WFC | B |
| U.S. Bancorp | USB | B |
Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.
Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.
AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.
Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.
Wells Fargo & Company has a Value Score of 63, which is Value.
U.S. Bancorp has a Value Score of 70, which is Value.
The Value Stock Winner: It’s a Tie!
Looking at the Value Grade breakdown above, both Wells Fargo & Company and U.S. Bancorp have a Value Grade of B. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, you will need to conduct further research into both of these companies’ other metrics to see if they could be good additions to your portfolio. It’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.
Wells Fargo & Company and U.S. Bancorp’s Quality Grades
| Company | Ticker | Quality |
| Wells Fargo & Company | WFC | D |
| U.S. Bancorp | USB | D |
Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.
The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.
The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.
Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.
Wells Fargo & Company has a Quality Score of 21, which is Weak.
U.S. Bancorp has a Quality Score of 26, which is Weak.
The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner
Neither Wells Fargo & Company or U.S. Bancorp has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Wells Fargo & Company or U.S. Bancorp is the better investment when it comes to quality.
Wells Fargo & Company and U.S. Bancorp’s Estimate Revisions Grades
| Company | Ticker | Earnings Estimate |
| Wells Fargo & Company | WFC | C |
| U.S. Bancorp | USB | B |
Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).
Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.
Wells Fargo & Company has a Earnings Estimate Score of 50, which is Neutral.
U.S. Bancorp has a Earnings Estimate Score of 70, which is Positive.
The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: U.S. Bancorp
As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, U.S. Bancorp has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Wells Fargo & Company. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, U.S. Bancorp could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.
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Other Wells Fargo & Company and U.S. Bancorp Grades
In addition to Estimate Revisions, Quality and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Momentum.
Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.
Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.
These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Wells Fargo & Company and U.S. Bancorp pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.
So, Which Is the Better Investment, Wells Fargo & Company or U.S. Bancorp Stock?
Overall, Wells Fargo & Company stock has a Value Score of 63, Estimate Revisions Score of 50 and Quality Score of 21.
U.S. Bancorp stock has a Value Score of 70, Estimate Revisions Score of 70 and Quality Score of 26.
Comparing Wells Fargo & Company and U.S. Bancorp’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.
Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.
A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.
AAII Disclaimer
We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.
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