U.S.A Bank (OTCMKTS:USBK) versus Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Financial Contrast

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) and U.S.A Bank (OTCMKTS:USBK) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Commerce Bancshares and U.S.A Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Commerce Bancshares	25.24%	16.31%	1.69%
U.S.A Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

Commerce Bancshares has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, U.S.A Bank has a beta of -24.99, meaning that its stock price is 2,599% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Commerce Bancshares and U.S.A Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Commerce Bancshares	$2.09 billion	4.14	$526.33 million	$4.01	16.80
U.S.A Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Commerce Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than U.S.A Bank.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Commerce Bancshares and U.S.A Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commerce Bancshares	0	6	0	0	2.00
U.S.A Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00

Commerce Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $67.83, suggesting a potential upside of 0.70%. Given Commerce Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Commerce Bancshares is more favorable than U.S.A Bank.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

70.3% of Commerce Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of Commerce Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Commerce Bancshares beats U.S.A Bank on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Commerce Bancshares

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Commerce Bank that provides retail, mortgage banking, corporate, investment, trust, and asset management products and services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Wealth. The Consumer segment offers various banking products and services, including consumer deposits; consumer loans, such as automobile, motorcycle, marine, tractor/trailer, recreational vehicle, fixed rate and revolving home equity, and other consumer loans; patient health care financing; real estate loans; indirect and other consumer financing; retail branch network; personal mortgage banking; consumer installment lending; and consumer debit and credit bank cards. The Commercial segment provides corporate lending, leasing, international, merchant and commercial bank card, and securities safekeeping and bond accounting services; and business products, government deposits, and related commercial cash management services, as well as sells fixed income securities to correspondent banks, corporations, public institutions, municipalities, and individuals. The Wealth segment provides traditional trust and estate planning, advisory and discretionary investment portfolio management, and brokerage services, as well as private banking accounts. The company also offers private equity investment, securities brokerage, insurance agency, specialty lending, and leasing services, as well as online and mobile banking services. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

About U.S.A Bank

As of July 10, 2010, U.S.A Bank was acquired by Customers Bank (Phoenixville, Pennsylvania). U.S.A Bank operates as a community bank in New York. It offers deposit products, Internet banking, ATM cards, consumer loans, and residential and commercial loans. U.S.A Bank was founded in 2005 and is based in Port Chester, New York.