Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Receives “Strong-Buy” Rating from Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial restated their strong-buy rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Raymond James Financial currently has a $84.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $78.00.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.98.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of WFC stock opened at $74.74 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $50.15 and a 52 week high of $81.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.86.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.19% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The business had revenue of $20.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.73%.

Wells Fargo & Company declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $3,365,658,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,339,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,411,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,855 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,497,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,471,259,000 after acquiring an additional 128,207 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 932.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,734,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,105,218,000 after acquiring an additional 14,210,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,914,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $977,338,000 after purchasing an additional 62,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.