Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The firm had revenue of $20.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE WFC opened at $56.47 on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company has a fifty-two week low of $36.40 and a fifty-two week high of $58.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.32. The stock has a market cap of $199.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $62.00 price target (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Compass Point reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Odeon Capital Group cut Wells Fargo & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $48.80 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Wells Fargo & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.37.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,623,044,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 129,312.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,287,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,410,000 after purchasing an additional 26,267,166 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1,478.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,390,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,609,000 after purchasing an additional 7,859,100 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $345,861,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 25,640,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,262,043,000 after purchasing an additional 6,118,817 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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.