Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on WFC. Oppenheimer restated a market perform rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday. Compass Point restated a neutral rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup reiterated a neutral rating and set a $63.00 target price (up from $57.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $58.85.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $56.97 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $36.40 and a 12 month high of $58.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.08 and a 200-day moving average of $48.44. The company has a market capitalization of $201.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.19 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.68 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 29.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth $2,623,044,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 129,312.1% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 26,267,166 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1,478.6% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,390,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,609,000 after buying an additional 7,859,100 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the first quarter valued at about $345,861,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 31.3% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 6,118,817 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.