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

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.6053.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. KGI Securities lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $93.50 to $95.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,512,563,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter worth about $1,364,923,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth about $859,431,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $729,502,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $620,861,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $87.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $263.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $84.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $72.78 and a 1 year high of $97.76.

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

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 26.16%.

Wells Fargo & Company 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.