Top 3 Safest Banks For Your Money

We remained focused on the top 50 banks by assets with a large retail banking presence, so even though the fiduciary banks of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) and Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) fit our initial screening criteria, they were not included. The “problem banks,” which include Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), were excluded even though it would seem nearly impossible that depositors would have any risk with them. We also chose to avoid regional banks located in the troubled Southeast and the entire Pacific Coast, where so many faced financial troubles from housing and lending during and after the recession. We left off some of the large banks that have been involved very recently in mergers and acquisitions. Finally, we absolutely eliminated banks where we had concerns about their viability and survival during another recession.

Here are the three safest banks in America to deposit money:

1. Wells Fargo & CompanyWells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is the undisputed safest bank in America, now that JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) has come under scrutiny — even if Chase has about $1 trillion more in assets. Wells Fargo has branches in almost every state in the United States, with some 6,200 storefront branches and more than 12,000 ATMs. The bank has an asset base of over $1.3 trillion. To prove how safe this bank is, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) owns close to $13 billion worth of the common stock, and that stake keeps rising. The market cap is a whopping $171 billion. The shares trade at less than 9 times earnings and at almost 1.2 times book value. The return on equity is just above 12%, and the bank offers a 2.7% dividend yield to the common holders. While shares trade at around $32.50, Wall St. values the top bank at almost $38.00 per share.

2. JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Despite the media attention surrounding the JP Morgan Chase & Co.’s (NYSE: JPM) multibillion dollar trading loss, the firm is still in good shape compared to many of its peers. It has a fortresslike balance sheet, with about $2.3 trillion in assets, and CEO Jamie Dimon said the only risk to the bank’s failure is a collision of the earth and moon. Despite the share price decline following the trading loss, the company still has a sizable market cap of $135.17 billion. JP Morgan shares trade at less than 8 times earnings and only about 0.7 times book value. The return on equity is 9.8%, and the company pays a dividend yield of 3.4% on the common stock. While the bank shares are trading at just over $36, analysts value the company at $47 a share.

3. U.S. Bancorp
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is often overlooked as a money-center bank because it is a super-regional located in Minneapolis. It is the fifth-largest commercial bank in the U.S. and caters to millions of consumers. U.S. Bancorp has $341 billion in assets, more than 3,000 branch locations, more than 5,000 ATMs and its operations spread out over 25 states in America. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) owns some 69 million shares worth more than $2.1 billion. The bank’s market cap is $59 billion. It is worth about 10 times earnings and 1.6 times book value. The return on equity is very high at 16%, and it offers a 2.5% dividend yield to the common holders. Shares are trading around $31.50, and Wall St. analysts have a target of about $34.25 on this great safe bank.