weiwentg (98.34)

US Bancorp: worth buying now

October 23, 2008 – Comments (1) | RELATED TICKERS: USB , BBT , WFC

A few weeks ago it looked to me like the high quality banks were benefitting from a flight to quality. Their stock prices weren't exactly sky high but they'd clearly been benefitting from investors buying high quality names.

This week's selloffs have been absolutely relentless. While Wells Fargo is still above the price I'd like to pay, US Bancorp is not. Although the bank didn't cover its dividend this quarter, its loan book has been growingand loan losses arewithin acceptable limits. The bank has been historically conservative and profitable.

Furthermore, as a Motley Fool article recently noted, the bank is considering participating in the Treasury's capital plan and using the money for acquisitions. 

BB&T is another bank that's on my radar and it would be a buy if it fell just a couple more bucks. I'd hold off on Wells until the price dropped below $30 and we had some more visibility on the effects of the Wachovia acquisition.