Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Trading 0.7% Higher After Dividend Announcement

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) shares rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $59.90 and last traded at $59.53. Approximately 1,307,271 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 18,332,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.14.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price target (down from $70.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $61.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Compass Point reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.31.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $208.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.29 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $2,623,044,000. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,308,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,162,000 after acquiring an additional 2,677,050 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,852,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,349,595 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 3,833,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $189,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 3,314,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $163,160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549,979 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.