Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Hits New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $78.36 and last traded at $78.07, with a volume of 77232 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $77.94.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WFC shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Compass Point raised their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $261.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. Wells Fargo & Company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Equities 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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Income Research & Management acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $211,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 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.