Wells Fargo (WFC) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

WFC

In the latest trading session, Wells Fargo (WFC - Free Report) closed at $48.45, marking a +0.06% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.14% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.25%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.34%.

Coming into today, shares of the biggest U.S. mortgage lender had gained 1.34% in the past month. In that same time, the Finance sector gained 2.58%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.32%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Wells Fargo as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 14, 2022. In that report, analysts expect Wells Fargo to post earnings of $1.11 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 73.44%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $18.41 billion, up 2.7% from the prior-year quarter.

WFC's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.64 per share and revenue of $75.63 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +1031.71% and +4.55%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Wells Fargo. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.31% higher. Wells Fargo is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

In terms of valuation, Wells Fargo is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.43. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.04, so we one might conclude that Wells Fargo is trading at a discount comparatively.

It is also worth noting that WFC currently has a PEG ratio of 1.02. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Banks - Major Regional industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.32 as of yesterday's close.

The Banks - Major Regional industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 69, putting it in the top 28% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow WFC in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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