Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Lifted to “Outperform” at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. Wolfe Research currently has $65.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

WFC has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company to a hold rating and decreased their target price for the company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $60.65.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $60.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.75. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $38.58 and a 12 month high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The company had revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 53.7% in the second quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.