Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Sets New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $78.36 and last traded at $78.07, with a volume of 77232 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $77.94.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Compass Point increased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $73.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.75. The firm has a market cap of $262.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Income Research & Management purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $211,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 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.