4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: US Bancorp

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, banking giant US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at US Bancorp's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

US Bancorp facts

Headquarters (Founded)	Minneapolis, Minn. (1863)
Market Cap	$45.5 billion
Industry	Diversified banks
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$10.1 billion
Management	CEO Richard Davis (since 2006) CFO Andrew Cecere (since 2007)
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)	16.9%
Competitors	Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB) Citigroup (NYSE: C)
CAPS Members Bullish on USB Also Bullish on	Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) General Electric (NYSE: GE)
CAPS Members Bearish on USB Also Bearish on	JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 93% of the 1,999 members who have rated US Bancorp believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include thawkeye2 and All-Star WPThatcher.

In late August, thawkeye2 tapped the stock as a refreshingly bankable bet: "Throwing the baby out with the bath water could describe what happened to [US Bancorp]. They are a well managed organization that has not gone down the same high risk path as many of the other banks."

In a pitch from earlier this month, WPThatcher also advises Fools to pay up for performance:

This is not a cheap stock. You are paying a premium for the fact that this is bank that actually makes money. In good times the ROA is near or over 1%. Right now, it's 0.60. [US Bancorp] was very adept at avoiding most of the problems that other banks suffered in the last two years. They will eventually emerge even stronger than they were previously. I like this stock as a play on the coming economic recovery.

What do you think about US Bancorp, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!