Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Wells Fargo, with 14 buy, 10 hold and two strong-buy ratings among 26 analysts. The average 12-month price target is approximately $98.61.
• Wells Fargo’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with adjusted EPS of $1.96 versus the $1.73 consensus and revenue of $22.62 billion versus $21.86 billion expected.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share, equivalent to a $2.00 annualized payout and a 2.4% yield. Shares recently opened at $85.00, compared with a 12-month range of $72.78 to $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.6053.

WFC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Phillip Securities raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Friday, July 17th.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Phillip James Consulting Co. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Wells Fargo & Company

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo is stepping up efforts to recruit independent financial advisers after a reported $1.5 billion overhaul of its wealth-management business. Expanding the adviser network could increase assets under management, fee revenue and the division’s long-term growth prospects. Wells Fargo Makes New Push to Recruit Wealth Managers
• Positive Sentiment: A comparison with PNC Financial characterized WFC as offering a lower valuation and improving efficiency, supporting the view that the stock may have additional value potential despite PNC’s stronger growth and dividend yield. Wells Fargo vs. PNC Financial: Which Stock Offers Better Upside Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank’s most recent quarterly results provide a supportive backdrop: earnings and revenue exceeded analyst expectations, with revenue rising year over year. However, the stock’s valuation and outlook remain sensitive to interest rates, loan growth and credit costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo is reportedly foreclosing on Workspace Property Trust’s $1.3 billion property portfolio after falling occupancy and asset values increased financial stress. Recovering collateral could limit losses, but the action underscores commercial real-estate exposure and potential pressure on credit quality. Wells Fargo Forecloses On $1.3B Workspace Property Trust Loan

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock opened at $85.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $257.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $86.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.68. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $72.78 and a 12-month high of $97.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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