Wells Fargo & Company Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.40 (NYSE:WFC)

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 29th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the financial services provider on Sunday, June 1st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th.

Wells Fargo & Company has increased its dividend by an average of 35.7% per year over the last three years. Wells Fargo & Company has a dividend payout ratio of 24.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Wells Fargo & Company to earn $6.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.3%.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WFC traded up $1.95 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.76. 18,345,997 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,545,830. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $50.15 and a 12 month high of $81.50. The company has a market cap of $240.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.87.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $20.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.34.

Institutional Trading of Wells Fargo & Company

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Company stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Free Report) by 62.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $4,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has initiated a share 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 repurchase 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.

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.