Wells Fargo Gets Rating Boost from Robert W. Baird Analysts
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo upgraded from underperform to neutral by Robert W. Baird, with price target set at $85. Bank exceeded earnings expectations.
The upgrade comes amid a flurry of analyst attention on Wells Fargo, with 13 research analysts rating the stock a buy and 10 assigning hold ratings. The average price target across analysts stands at $97.03, giving the company a “Moderate Buy” rating overall.
UBS Group maintained its buy rating with a $113 price objective, while Barclays raised its target from $94 to $113 with an overweight rating. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target from $92 to $101, and Wolfe Research set an outperform rating with a $109 target.
Evercore analysts trimmed their target from $110 to $105 while keeping an outperform rating.
Wells Fargo, headquartered in San Francisco since its founding in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, reported earnings that topped analyst expectations on January 14th. The bank posted $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by 10 cents.
Revenue came in at $11.97 billion for the quarter, up 4.5% from the same period last year when the company earned $1.43 per share. However, revenue fell short of analyst estimates of $21.63 billion.
The financial services giant maintained a net margin of 17.27% and return on equity of 12.90%. Analysts predict Wells Fargo will post $5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Wells Fargo also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, payable March 1st to shareholders of record as of February 6th. The dividend represents an annualized payout of $1.80 and yields 2.1%, with a payout ratio of 28.71%.
Institutional investors have been active in Wells Fargo stock recently. Access Investment Management LLC and Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. each purchased new stakes worth approximately $25,000, while Navalign LLC bought a $26,000 position. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its holdings by 472.4% to 332 shares.
Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 75.90% of the company’s stock.
Wells Fargo operates as one of the largest full-service banks in the United States under CEO Charles W. Scharf, providing consumer banking, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth management services from its San Francisco headquarters.