Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Buys New Stake in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo, purchasing 34,207 shares valued at approximately $2.74 million during the second quarter.
• Wells Fargo recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.80 with a yield of 2.1%.
• The stock has received positive ratings from several brokerages, with price targets raised as high as $98.00, indicating a favorable outlook for the company's growth prospects.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 34,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,741,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 585.5% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Motco raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 112.9% in the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 428 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 2.9%

WFC stock opened at $83.97 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $58.42 and a 52 week high of $87.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.25.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 30.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WFC. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.57.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.

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