Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading 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. 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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 note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "neutral" rating to an "accumulate" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $260.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18. The stock's 50-day moving average is $73.45 and its 200-day moving average is $64.48. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The business's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $383,532,000 after purchasing an additional 897,195 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,641,581 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $375,183,000 after acquiring an additional 162,066 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 575,892 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted 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 valued at $336,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,237,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the third quarter valued at about $160,529,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the company's stock.

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.