Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys New Shares in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,810,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $480,162,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,512,563,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth about $1,635,881,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth about $1,364,923,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $859,431,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $729,502,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $85.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $86.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.68. The company has a market cap of $257.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.92. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $72.78 and a twelve month high of $97.76.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.07%.

More Wells Fargo & Company News

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo is stepping up efforts to recruit independent financial advisers after a reported $1.5 billion overhaul of its wealth-management business. Expanding the adviser network could increase assets under management, fee revenue and the division’s long-term growth prospects. Wells Fargo Makes New Push to Recruit Wealth Managers
• Positive Sentiment: A comparison with PNC Financial characterized WFC as offering a lower valuation and improving efficiency, supporting the view that the stock may have additional value potential despite PNC’s stronger growth and dividend yield. Wells Fargo vs. PNC Financial: Which Stock Offers Better Upside Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank’s most recent quarterly results provide a supportive backdrop: earnings and revenue exceeded analyst expectations, with revenue rising year over year. However, the stock’s valuation and outlook remain sensitive to interest rates, loan growth and credit costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo is reportedly foreclosing on Workspace Property Trust’s $1.3 billion property portfolio after falling occupancy and asset values increased financial stress. Recovering collateral could limit losses, but the action underscores commercial real-estate exposure and potential pressure on credit quality. Wells Fargo Forecloses On $1.3B Workspace Property Trust Loan

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Wells Fargo & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

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.