Old West Investment Management LLC Purchases New Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Key Points

• Old West Investment Management LLC has purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo, acquiring 8,037 shares valued at approximately $577,000.
• Wells Fargo's board approved a $40 billion share buyback plan, indicating management's belief that the company's shares are undervalued.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.45 per share, reflecting a positive change from its previous dividend of $0.40.

Old West Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,037 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $577,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,068,000. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 3,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 50,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,517,000 after acquiring an additional 6,099 shares during the period. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $501,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC stock opened at $79.0680 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.55 and a 200-day moving average of $74.88. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.22 and a 12-month high of $84.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $253.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is 30.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Dbs Bank raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

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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