As previously reported, Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo downgraded U.S. Bancorp (USB) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $61 price target, given his view that the stock will underperform the banking industry over the next 12 months, consistent with his firm's new rating system. Strategically, U.S. Bancorp frittered away a degree of its competitive advantage by not capitalizing more when its competitors were weaker, he contends. Financially, the analyst believes its premium ROE and efficiency should narrow by another 100bp on top of the 300bp narrowing of the past 5 years. The company's newer moves to expand nationally also come later than peer and with new risks and at a time when they have not shown the benefits of harvesting tech benefits to the level of its larger peers or with the clarity of peers such as PNC (PNC), Mayo adds.