30-Second Overview: US Bancorp

There are few banks that conservative investors should contemplate putting their money into these days. The inherent uncertainty in most bank stocks will probably make you squirm, as it should.

One that might be worth taking a look at is US Bancorp (NYSE: USB). It's one of only a handful of banks around that didn't fall into the orgy of speculative lending that's causing so many banks to see stars these days.

Metric	Trailing 12 months
Total revenue	$14.07 billion
Total net income	$4.08 billion
Net income per share	$2.30
Dividends paid per share	$1.68
Current share price*	$30.30

*As of Aug. 25, 2008.

Shares are down just 8% in the past year, making rivals like Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), and Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) look like clowns. Earlier in the year, Warren Buffett was buying shares, adding to Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) existing stake. If that isn't a vote of confidence, I don't know what is.

One thing you should love about US Bancorp is its top-notch management. Having the audacity to not do anything stupid over the past several years has been a tough task for bank managers, but US Bancorp managed to pull it off -- wonder of wonders. As CEO Richard Davis said last year, "Despite the very challenging economic environment, our company's earnings remained solid, reflecting our core financial strength and emphasis on creating a business model that provides consistent and sustainable results." While so many other banks focused on the here and now, U.S. Bancorp's insistence on focusing on sustainability should pay off handsomely.

Metric	Most recent quarter
Return on assets	1.58%
Return on equity	17.9%
Net interest margin	3.61%
Percentage of assets not performing	0.46%
Tier 1 capital ratio	8.5%
Book value per share	$11.67

Copyright © 2008 Universal Press Syndicate