A Rare Window Of Opportunity With U.S. Bancorp

There are some things you just sort of take for granted as an investor, and U.S. Bancorp (USB) being richly-valued is one of them - after all, U.S. Bancorp has built a well-earned reputation for generating some of the best long-term results in the banking sector. And yet, the shares haven't done so well over the last year; the roughly 11% rise in the share price lags Wells Fargo (WFC) and BB&T (BBT) and comes up well short of PNC (PNC), JPMorgan (JPM), and Bank of America (BAC).

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually think U.S. Bancorp may be slightly undervalued now. I am concerned that USB's rivals are closing the gap and that it will be hard-pressed to match the returns of yesteryear ("trees don't grow to the sky" and all that), but with ongoing opportunities to grow its branch-based business and fee-generating businesses, I think there may actually be an opportunity here in the shares, even as the growth outlook for the first half of 2018 is perhaps rather sedate.

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A Rare Window Of Opportunity With U.S. Bancorp