Investors Who Bought U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares A Year Ago Are Now Up 87%
It's always best to build a diverse portfolio of shares, since any stock business could lag the broader market. Of course, the aim of the game is to pick stocks that do better than an index fund. One such company is U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), which saw its share price increase 87% in the last year, slightly above the market return of around 87% (not including dividends). The longer term returns have not been as good, with the stock price only 5.8% higher than it was three years ago.
Check out our latest analysis for U.S. Bancorp
In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.
Over the last twelve months, U.S. Bancorp actually shrank its EPS by 26%.
Given the share price gain, we doubt the market is measuring progress with EPS. Therefore, it seems likely that investors are putting more weight on metrics other than EPS, at the moment.
Unfortunately U.S. Bancorp's fell 9.0% over twelve months. So the fundamental metrics don't provide an obvious explanation for the share price gain.
You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
U.S. Bancorp is a well known stock, with plenty of analyst coverage, suggesting some visibility into future growth. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think U.S. Bancorp will earn in the future (free analyst consensus estimates)
What About Dividends?
When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. We note that for U.S. Bancorp the TSR over the last year was 96%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.
A Different Perspective
U.S. Bancorp provided a TSR of 96% over the year (including dividends). That's fairly close to the broader market return. That gain looks pretty satisfying, and it is even better than the five-year TSR of 9% per year. Even if the share price growth slows down from here, there's a good chance that this is business worth watching in the long term. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with U.S. Bancorp .
We will like U.S. Bancorp better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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