Contrasting Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) & U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Dividends

U.S. Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Fulton Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. U.S. Bancorp pays out 61.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fulton Financial pays out 45.6% 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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

77.6% of U.S. Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.0% of Fulton Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of U.S. Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Fulton Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

U.S. Bancorp has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fulton Financial has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for U.S. Bancorp and Fulton Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
U.S. Bancorp	0	9	11	0	2.55
Fulton Financial	0	3	2	0	2.40

U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $54.21, suggesting a potential upside of 12.02%. Fulton Financial has a consensus price target of $19.50, suggesting a potential downside of 6.52%. Given U.S. Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe U.S. Bancorp is more favorable than Fulton Financial.

Profitability

This table compares U.S. Bancorp and Fulton Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
U.S. Bancorp	12.92%	12.91%	0.96%
Fulton Financial	16.37%	11.33%	1.05%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares U.S. Bancorp and Fulton Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
U.S. Bancorp	$40.62 billion	1.86	$5.43 billion	$3.27	14.80
Fulton Financial	$1.50 billion	2.53	$284.28 million	$1.58	13.20

U.S. Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Fulton Financial. Fulton Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than U.S. Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

U.S. Bancorp beats Fulton Financial on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About U.S. Bancorp

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. It operates through Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking; Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; and Treasury and Corporate Support segments. The company 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, asset-backed lending, agricultural finance, and other products. It also provides ancillary services comprising capital markets, treasury management, and receivable lock-box collection services to corporate and governmental entity customers. In addition, the company offers asset management and fiduciary services for individuals, estates, foundations, business corporations, and charitable organizations. Further, it provides investment and insurance products to its customers principally within its domestic markets, as well as fund administration services to mutual and other funds. Additionally, the company provides corporate and purchasing card, and corporate trust services. Furthermore, it offers trust and investment management, merchant and ATM processing, mortgage banking, insurance, and brokerage and leasing services. U.S. Bancorp was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Fulton Financial

Fulton Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. It accepts various checking accounts and savings deposit products, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company offers consumer loans products, including home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile loans, personal lines of credit, and checking account overdraft protection; construction and jumbo residential mortgage loans; and commercial lending products comprising commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, and construction loans, as well as equipment lease financing loans. In addition, it offers letters of credit, cash management services, and traditional deposit products; and wealth management services, including investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and investment advisory services. Further, the company owns trust preferred securities; and sells various life insurance products. It provides its products and services through financial center offices, as well as through a network of automated teller machines, telephone banking, mobile banking, and online banking. Fulton Financial Corporation was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.