Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.99.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WFC shares. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $60.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.48. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $37.18 and a 12 month high of $61.76.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WFC. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 410.5% in the third quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 67,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 54,262 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 13.7% in the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 97,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,000,000 after purchasing an additional 11,825 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 61.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 121,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,983,000 after purchasing an additional 46,525 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $2,499,000. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 5.2% during the first quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 38,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,256,000 after buying an additional 1,911 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.