Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.6053.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,652,000 after buying an additional 25,436 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 12.9% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 22,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after acquiring an additional 2,615 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 111.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 14,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 7,368 shares in the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 3,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 51.2% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,044,000 after purchasing an additional 8,714 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.1%

WFC stock opened at $89.15 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $72.78 and a one year high of $97.76. The firm has a market cap of $269.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $86.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $22.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.