Wells Fargo Receives Buy Ratings from Seaport Global and Truist Financial, Despite J.P. Morgan's Hold Rating

Seaport Global maintains a "Buy" rating on Wells Fargo, with shares closing at $82.55 on July 8. Truist Financial's John McDonald CFA also recommends a "Buy" for Wells Fargo, while J.P. Morgan maintains a "Hold" rating. Wells Fargo has a one-year high of $83.95 and a low of $50.15, with an average volume of 16.91M.

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) has been a subject of interest for investors and analysts alike, with recent developments in its stock rating and performance. Seaport Global maintains a "Buy" rating on Wells Fargo, with shares closing at $82.55 on July 8. Truist Financial's John McDonald CFA also recommends a "Buy" for Wells Fargo, while J.P. Morgan maintains a "Hold" rating. The stock has seen significant movement, with a one-year high of $83.95 and a low of $50.15, averaging a volume of 16.91 million shares.

Raymond James recently downgraded Wells Fargo from "Outperform" to "Market Perform," citing limited upside potential after the stock's recent rally. The banking giant has delivered impressive returns, with a 43.6% gain over the past year. Despite the rally, the stock remains slightly undervalued, according to InvestingPro analysis [1].

Wells Fargo's shares have climbed 15.3% since Raymond James raised its earnings estimates following the removal of the bank's asset cap, reaching the firm's target price. The stock now trades at 12.4 times Raymond James’ 2026 earnings per share estimate, a premium to its peer group average and median of 11.0 times. Raymond James maintains a bullish outlook on Wells Fargo's growth prospects and continued profitability improvement, but believes the upside to earnings estimates is now appropriately reflected in the premium valuation [1].

In other recent news, Wells Fargo announced expectations for its stress capital buffer (SCB) to decrease to the minimum 2.5% following the Federal Reserve’s 2025 stress tests. The bank also plans to increase its third-quarter 2025 common stock dividend by 12.5%, pending board approval. Raymond James raised its price target for Wells Fargo from $78 to $84, maintaining a "Strong Buy" rating, citing potential positive impacts from the removal of the asset cap [1].

Willis Towers Watson PLC (WTW), a subsidiary of Wells Fargo, has seen its price target adjusted by Wells Fargo from $387 to $369, while maintaining an "Overweight" rating. The adjustment reflects the importance of focusing on key areas such as pricing strategies, loss trends, and reserve management for property and casualty (P&C) firms, organic growth and profit margins for brokers, and sales, variable interest income, and capital management for life insurance companies [2].

Analysts forecast an average target price for WTW of $360.31, with a high estimate of $408.00 and a low estimate of $305.00. The average target implies an upside of 16.79% from the current price of $308.51. Based on the consensus recommendation from 20 brokerage firms, WTW's average brokerage recommendation is currently 2.2, indicating an "Outperform" status [2].

Wells Fargo stock price predictions for the near future show a range of 73.55 to 86.35 for the week ending February 11, 2025, with an average price of $79.95. The stock is expected to trade between $66.38 and $77.92 by the end of February 2025, with an average price of $72.15 [3].

References:
[1] https://www.investing.com/news/analyst-ratings/wells-fargo-stock-rating-cut-to-market-perform-by-raymond-james-93CH-4124267
[2] https://www.gurufocus.com/news/2968712/wells-fargo-adjusts-price-target-for-wtw-before-earnings-release-wtw-stock-news
[3] https://30rates.com/wfc-stock