Financial Survey: Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) versus Its Competitors

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is one of 919 publicly-traded companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Wells Fargo & Company to related companies based on the strength of its profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Wells Fargo & Company and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wells Fargo & Company	0	9	17	0	2.65
Wells Fargo & Company Competitors	7503	30277	27877	1492	2.35

Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus price target of $97.50, indicating a potential upside of 13.35%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 14.43%. Given Wells Fargo & Company’s peers higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Wells Fargo & Company has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Risk & Volatility

Wells Fargo & Company has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wells Fargo & Company’s peers have a beta of 0.62, meaning that their average share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Wells Fargo & Company pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Wells Fargo & Company pays out 28.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 8.9% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Wells Fargo & Company has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.9% of Wells Fargo & Company shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.0% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Wells Fargo & Company shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Wells Fargo & Company and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wells Fargo & Company	$123.53 billion	$21.34 billion	12.13
Wells Fargo & Company Competitors	$18.18 billion	$2.42 billion	21.02

Wells Fargo & Company has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Wells Fargo & Company is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Wells Fargo & Company and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wells Fargo & Company	17.64%	14.05%	1.04%
Wells Fargo & Company Competitors	15.66%	9.47%	0.93%

Summary

Wells Fargo & Company beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company offering banking, lending, investment, and wealth management services. Its products include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, commercial financing, investment services, and financial advice. The company serves consumers, businesses, and institutions, primarily in the United States. Its operations include consumer and small business banking, commercial banking, and corporate and investment banking, as well as wealth and investment management.