Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $78.36 and last traded at $78.07, with a volume of 77232 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $77.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on WFC. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $73.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 0.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $259.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $73.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.23.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $20.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Income Research & Management bought a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the third quarter worth $211,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 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.