Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Shares Up 1.1% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company shares increased by 1.1%, closing at $82.30, with trading volume down 13% compared to its average.
• The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and marking a 15.7% increase from the previous year.
• Wells Fargo recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.45, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.2% for shareholders.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) shot up 1.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $82.72 and last traded at $82.30. 14,726,116 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 16,894,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WFC. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Raymond James Financial downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Phillip Securities downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $263.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $80.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.20.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Wealth Management Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 3,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 3,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,443,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yukon Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Yukon Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,179 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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