Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Sets New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $78.36 and last traded at $78.07, with a volume of 77232 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $77.94.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.35 and a 200-day moving average of $64.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $261.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Pension Service raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 15.2% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,789,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,532,000 after purchasing an additional 897,195 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,641,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,183,000 after purchasing an additional 162,066 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,284,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,983,000 after buying an additional 575,892 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 730.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 5,954,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,375,000 after buying an additional 5,237,500 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $160,529,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

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.