This Is One Boring Bank

By Matt Koppenheffer and Anand Chokkavelu, CFA – Oct 22, 2012 at 6:15PM

NYSE: USB

U.S. Bancorp

Market Cap

$65B

Today's Change

(-1.73%) -$0.72

Current Price

$40.89

Price as of April 25, 2024, 12:13 p.m. ET

Not that that's a bad thing.

With larger banks such as Bank of America(BAC -1.51%), Citigroup(C -1.34%), and JPMorgan Chase(JPM 0.01%) providing investors with too much excitement (think lawsuits, CEO shakeups, and huge loss-making London Whale trades), We ask whether investors should be abandoning the megabanks for the likes of U.S. Bancorp.

Closing out the bank's third-quarter conference call, U.S. Bancorp(USB -1.73%) CEO Richard Davis quipped: "I hope you know that this is a pretty standard, almost boring quarter and a pretty boring bank." He continued: "We are pretty proud of that."

There is a lot to be said for "boring" when it comes to banking, given that the most "exciting" investment banks had the biggest trouble during the financial meltdown. See more in the following video.

Anand Chokkavelu, CFA, owns shares of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup. Fool contributor Matt Koppenheffer owns shares of Bank of America. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.