Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Stock Price Up 1% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company stock price increased by 1% following an upgrade from Wall Street Zen from a sell rating to a hold rating, trading last at $79.92.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, marking an increase from the previous dividend of $0.40, with a payout ratio of 30.82%.
• Wells Fargo's stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with an average target price of $81.58.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)'s stock price shot up 1% on Monday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $80.00 and last traded at $79.92. 2,182,058 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 17,101,895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.10.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on WFC. Raymond James Financial lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Dbs Bank upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.58.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2,735,254.3% during the second quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 949,769,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $76,095,550,000 after buying an additional 949,735,001 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 302,092,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,203,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,222 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at $3,990,551,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,411,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,855 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,497,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,471,259,000 after purchasing an additional 128,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company's stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.1%

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 stock has a market cap of $256.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.88.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.82%.

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

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