Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is LSV Asset Management's 9th Largest Position

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management has reduced its stake in Wells Fargo by 6.2%, now holding approximately 7.1 million shares, making it the firm's 9th largest investment, valued at around $508.8 million.
• Wells Fargo has initiated a $40 billion stock buyback program, indicating the board's confidence in the stock being undervalued.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45, representing a 2.3% dividend yield.

LSV Asset Management lessened its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,086,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 465,060 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company comprises about 1.2% of LSV Asset Management's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. LSV Asset Management owned 0.22% of Wells Fargo & Company worth $508,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Motco raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 397.6% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 496 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WFC. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $77.80 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $84.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $78.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.20.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company 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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