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Wells Fargo (WFC) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Wells Fargo (WFC - Free Report) closed at $41.52, marking a -1.77% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.84%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.36%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.12%.

Coming into today, shares of the biggest U.S. mortgage lender had lost 5.31% in the past month. In that same time, the Finance sector lost 7.97%, while the S&P 500 lost 10.24%.

Wells Fargo will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.11, down 5.13% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $18.72 billion, down 0.62% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4 per share and revenue of $72.93 billion, which would represent changes of -19.19% and -6.53%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Wells Fargo. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.05% higher within the past month. Wells Fargo is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Wells Fargo has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.57 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 9.93, so we one might conclude that Wells Fargo is trading at a premium comparatively.

We can also see that WFC currently has a PEG ratio of 1.04. 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 industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.24 as of yesterday's close.

The Banks - Major Regional industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 80, putting it in the top 32% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. 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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