Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. Trims Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 25.8% during the 1st quarter, now holding 228,260 shares valued at approximately $16.4 million.
• Wells Fargo recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, marking a rise from the previous $0.40, with a current yield of 2.3%.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Wells Fargo, with an average target price projected at $80.39.

Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 25.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 228,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 79,367 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for about 1.4% of Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $16,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $932,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 220.2% in the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 13,317 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 9,158 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 8.5% during the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 58,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,181,000 after acquiring an additional 4,581 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,497,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,471,259,000 after acquiring an additional 128,207 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.5% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 79,739 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,693,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WFC. Dbs Bank raised shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC opened at $77.09 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $246.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $79.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.99. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $50.22 and a 12-month high of $84.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. 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 firm posted $1.33 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 boost from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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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