Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-three research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.9211.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WFC. Dbs Bank raised Wells Fargo & Company to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Evercore cut their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $93.93 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $58.42 and a fifty-two week high of $97.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.69. The company has a market capitalization of $294.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.10. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.27%.The firm had revenue of $11.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 302,092,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,203,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,222 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth about $3,990,551,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 18.6% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,660,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,989,104,000 after buying an additional 5,584,930 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,009,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,760,994,000 after buying an additional 399,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,859,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,496,998,000 after acquiring an additional 1,223,999 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.