Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Makes New $246.88 Million Investment in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,987,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $246,875,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Phillip James Consulting Co. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the first quarter valued at $28,000. 75.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Phillip Securities upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.61.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $85.00 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $86.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $72.78 and a twelve month high of $97.76. The stock has a market cap of $257.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.92.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $22.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 17.55%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.07%.

Wells Fargo & Company News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Wells Fargo & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo is stepping up efforts to recruit independent financial advisers after a reported $1.5 billion overhaul of its wealth-management business. Expanding the adviser network could increase assets under management, fee revenue and the division’s long-term growth prospects. Wells Fargo Makes New Push to Recruit Wealth Managers
• Positive Sentiment: A comparison with PNC Financial characterized WFC as offering a lower valuation and improving efficiency, supporting the view that the stock may have additional value potential despite PNC’s stronger growth and dividend yield. Wells Fargo vs. PNC Financial: Which Stock Offers Better Upside Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank’s most recent quarterly results provide a supportive backdrop: earnings and revenue exceeded analyst expectations, with revenue rising year over year. However, the stock’s valuation and outlook remain sensitive to interest rates, loan growth and credit costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo is reportedly foreclosing on Workspace Property Trust’s $1.3 billion property portfolio after falling occupancy and asset values increased financial stress. Recovering collateral could limit losses, but the action underscores commercial real-estate exposure and potential pressure on credit quality. Wells Fargo Forecloses On $1.3B Workspace Property Trust Loan

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, U.S.-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the firm has evolved from its origins in express delivery and pioneer-era banking into one of the largest full-service banks in the United States. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial, and institutional clients. Charles W. Scharf serves as chief executive officer.

Wells Fargo operates across several core business segments, including consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.