US Bancorp (USB)

This stock is propped up by Buffanatics. So what if Warren Buffet is buying? What does he know about mortgage lending? USB was doing 100% financing with a 580 credit score! They did no equity refinances! They did stated, 100%! They are probably sweating their next earnings report right now. Hello people....they TRIPLED their loan losses in 1 quarter, imagine what the next quarter is going to look like. Go ahead though, keep piling into this stock. I love it! I just keep buying more put options waiting for October! Conservative lender my rear. Conservative lender? If you should have learned one thing by now it is that analysts don't know what they are talking about.

USB in my view is the safest of the major U.S. banks for playing a potential turnaround in the financial/banking industry in 2008 and beyond. Berkshire Hathaway’s investment helps mightily with the thesis, but so does the 6 percent dividend yield, and the relatively negligent exposure to subprime (at least in relation to many of its peers). USB won’t leap and bound, but it will be market-beater.

USB may be a conservative bank but it is still a bank. That sector is a dog for the next 2 years. The dividend everybody crows about is already on the way out (how can you pay a dividend when there are no profits?). The extra 6 billion they took dilutes the shares substantially. The PE ratio is way too high. In other words, USB is a stock trading around $32 a share and it should be around $20 - $22 a share at current dilution and earnings. SELL before everybody figures it out! You could always buy back in in a year or two at MUCH better valuations. I think many people feel that if Warren Buffet is in, they should be, too. That is stupid. He can afford to buy it and forget about it. Personally, I would like to make money over the next 2 years, and taking a 33% loss on this stock won't accomplish that.

Great divident

No alarms and no surprises.

Dividends galore, good value. They seem willing to deal with their issues. Merger hiccups cost the stock in the late 90s, by the early 2000s, they turned themselves into one of the most efficient of the large banks. Credit quality questions followed, which they've corrected in a tough interest rate margin environment. They've struggled with revenue growth lately, and that's the new focus. On the retail side, they seem focused on building from the core - buying small banks within the footprint and growing traditional markets with the PowerBank initiative.

A lot of pitches mention USB as a take-over target. As the 6th largest bank (by assets) in the country, I don't see a lot of buyers out there. Wells-Fargo is in almost all of the same markets, so doesn't make sense and Wachovia seems focused elsewhere. The other players are probably either too large or too small to buy USB. I suppose a large foreign bank could give it a shot.....

U.S. Bancorp, with assets of $217 billion, is the 6th largest financial services holding company in the United States. The company operates 2,462 banking offices and 4,943 ATMs providing a full line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions.

The year 2007 is marked for a total transformation and the management believes growth drivers would be the fee income driven by the payment processing and wealth management services. Moreover these services help in superior scalability with less capital. Investments made over the years in acquisition of Citigroup's European merchant services, EuroConex, NOVA and trust services of other major bank is expected to pay off with estimated revenues of $350 million.

The retail-banking’s Power Bank venture of extended banking days is expected to boost revenues by 2%-3% apart from volumes in the coming years. Centralized Credit scoring by Project Gold has resulted in speeding up credit request and hence loan growth. However the bank has huge challenge ahead as its loan growth is not proportionate to the deposit growth. The bank is highly leveraged and dangerously using the borrowings for funding.

The bank has been very cautious with its expenses while maintaining branch expansion. Super market branches opened in the valuable metropolitan regions of Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco cost just one sixth of a standalone bank. Though there are talks of the company being taken over, the banks practice of returning 80% of its annual earnings, its outstanding efficiency ratio of 44.7% would act as a deterrent for the same. Merger synergies are difficult to look as the operational cost are already low and is heading for a bullish run.

Short term iffy, long term great. US Bancorp is a superior financial stock to own. Above ave. loan quality, return on equity, and assets. Combine this with high div. yield and great stock buy back program and USB is an excellent long term investment. Primary risk is the housing bubble drags down and holds down the entire group (the good with the bad).

US Bancorp's third quarter results were solid. According to Morninstar, management's goals of returning 80% of earnings to shareholders annually, achieving 10% long-term earnings-per-share growth, and maintaining returns of equity above 20% are admirable. US Bankcorp is one of their (Morningstar) favorites in the sector. P/E ratio is 12.23 and this looks like a good entry point to me.

Banks are beat up from the mortgage breakdown. This good old fashioned regional bank still has room to grow and may be buyout option if M&A ever heats up again. Great div yield. Buffett is in and so am I.

Not A buy? Here is why!

This is the first Bank I've delt with that I feel has deceptive practices. Having close to the top 5% in credit score. I purchased a vehicle and received a loan. Within the first few payments I realized there are some issues with this company. Trying to pay down this loan I added extra payments. They charge you interest not yet due first before you can pay down your loan. Even with 100% monthly payments paid in full.

Here's how it works.

If you pay more than what you owe on a loan. They apply it towards your next payment even if you state on your check please apply towards principal. This in turn does not pay down your loan but takes the interest off of your next payment. Which lowers your next payment but does not pay off your principal adding interest. You have to physically pay another address to pay principal adding to postage. They dont tell you unless you wreak havoc on customer service. Which we don't want to go there.

Prove me wrong and call 681-466-3000

Ask for the Executive Vickki

These are just my opinions.

It just seems like a shady company.

Now I know why people are losing faith in the US financials.

Sell-off of all banks indicative of panic. Now is the time to buy good banks. This is one of the best. When the crowd decides it's safe to own banks again, the opportunity will no longer be there. Dividend and projected dividend increases alone make this a compelling investment.

Earnings per share will continue to rise over the next several years with the stock showing significant gains over the next two years. Gains will begin to appear as soon as it is apparent that the Federal Reserve will lower interst rates.

There will a few winners out of this banking fallout. CEO just had conference with top management and is absolutely fired up and excited for USB's future (next door neighbor is regional president). USB has added $1 billion to its deposits in the last month!!! People are flocking here. USB has money to lend when others will have to call in loans or turn away good customers. USB was conservative and prudent amongst other banks that exhibited some of the most egregious acts of greed in our history. Very, very little bad debt. This one is a winner.

For the anecdotal crowd, I've banked with US Bank for years and have experienced far better customer service than with, say Fifth Third... so much for the regional bank caring more than the national giant.

Marginally less anecdotal, USB seems to have engaged in less tomfoolery than our other big banks, is in less need of federal funds and the awful strings those funds will entail, and should be well positioned whenever the dust settles. Assuming it ever does. How's that for bullish!

The financials, and more specifically, the depositories, will lead the next bull run. Once the writedowns and huge reserving ends, these companies should see rocketing EPS. I think this will happen in the next 6 - 9 months.

Additionally, those banks that both have and have access to capital, can put it to work in a good environment right now. The yield curve is no longer inverted and credit spreads are at historic highs,. This translates into earnings for those banks that are putting money to work. Add to that the potential of buying assets (and whole banks) for pennies on the dollar, and this could be the ideal setup for a strong depository for a nice 4 - 6 year run.

I may have missed the recent rally by a week, but I don't think I need to time this stock. USB has always been on the more conservative side (a la my other favortie, WFC), and therefore should be one of the leaders coming out of this mess.

Bottom line, four years from now, USB will be higher, and it will outperfrom the S&P.

If you wanted to own a dividend-producing machine, this is your stock. Thirty plus years of increasing dividends. Re"win"vesting those increasing dividends PLUS the share appreciation in past 10 years gives you an annualized return of over 14%. Take my advice...this is one to own for the long haul.

There are just too many questions as to this companies loan portfolio. Frankly, I don't know why ANYONE would invest in ANY banking stock. You have great companies like Rimm and Aapl at incredible discounts and you want to put your money WHERE? US Bank is still trading higher than most analyst's target and US Bank just admitted a few weeks ago at the Lehman presentation that they were having significant increases in non-performing assets. So why buy a company that is already trading too high, is about to announce lower earnings and will be downgraded further? And don't give me the "Warren Buffet" crap. How did that Goldman Sachs investment work out for him? Think for yourselves Lemmings!

Top margins and returns, high but reasonable debt, average growth which translates into good profit with those margins. Slow and steady bank with high dividend policy but reasonable payout ratio.

I really like USB as a pick for the financial market. They have what I believe is a more lean system in a focused area, but they are growing steadily. They've crushed the industry and S&P YTD 2008 but 20 and 18 points respectively and I believe that trend can continue. There are other banks (Wells Fargo, BAC) that I think are good value now, but USB stands out as a market leader in their planning away from the sub prime mess.

They are also one of the few banks who's EBITDA didn't tank in the last few years. The directors are buying back shares, and the stock is set to soar. Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Buffet loves US Bank. So I'd say it's time to get on board.