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

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.18.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $74.27 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The company has a market capitalization of $244.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 126.7% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.