SouthState Corp Grows Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• SouthState Corp increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 44.4% in Q1, owning 13,442 shares valued at $965,000.
• Wells Fargo announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.45 per share from the previous $0.40, alongside a share buyback plan worth $40 billion.
• The stock currently maintains an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $80.39 from research analysts.

SouthState Corp raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 44.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,131 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Motco increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Dbs Bank raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $1.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $79.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,049,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,416,201. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.99. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.22 and a 12-month high of $84.83. The company has a market cap of $254.37 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change 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 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is currently 30.82%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.