Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Wells Fargo's stock reached a new 12-month high, trading at $84.93, with substantial share volume of 34,691,526.
• Analysts have a mixed outlook, with ten rating the stock as a "Buy" and seven as "Hold," showing confidence in the company's performance.
• Wells Fargo recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.45 per share, demonstrating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $84.93 and last traded at $84.61, with a volume of 34691526 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

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 capitalization of $271.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25. The business's fifty day moving average price is $80.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.38.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The firm's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company's payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 2,735,254.3% in the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 949,769,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $76,095,550,000 after purchasing an additional 949,735,001 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter worth $3,990,551,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 277.4% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,740,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $771,092,000 after purchasing an additional 7,894,919 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 7,887.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350,605 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $198,801,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

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.