Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Upgraded at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $80.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays upped their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $70.96 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.93. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $81.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $233.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.16.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $20.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.