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Wells Fargo (WFC) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Wells Fargo (WFC - Free Report) closed at $49.41, marking a -1.67% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.31% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.48%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the biggest U.S. mortgage lender had gained 0.72% over the past month. This has outpaced the Finance sector's loss of 2.1% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.04% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Wells Fargo as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, Wells Fargo is projected to report earnings of $1.11 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 73.44%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $18.34 billion, up 2.33% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.63 per share and revenue of $75.59 billion. These totals would mark changes of +1029.27% and +4.49%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Wells Fargo. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-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 0.48% higher. Wells Fargo is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Wells Fargo is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 10.85. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.18.

Investors should also note that WFC has a PEG ratio of 1.06 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Banks - Major Regional was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.34 at yesterday's closing price.

The Banks - Major Regional industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 108, putting it in the top 43% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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