Barclays Analyst Positive on Wells Fargo (WFC)

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is one of the best dividend stocks in the financial sector. On November 3, Barclays analyst Jason Goldberg reiterated a Buy recommendation on WFC, assigning a price target of $94.

On November 5, in a separate update, a Reuters report disclosed that Charlie Scharf, the CEO of Wells Fargo, commented that he predicts the WFC’s headcount to drop as it prioritises operational efficiency. Scharf mentioned that the workforce back in 2019 consisted of 275,000 employees, and presently it stands at just over 210,000.

The US Federal Reserve erased a $1.95 trillion asset cap on the bank during June this year, which cleared a huge penalty for WFC’s fake accounts controversy. This led to more room for growth at the bank, and now WFC is dedicated to increasing efficiency and reducing expenditure. This was a 7-year asset cap by the Fed, and now the bank has more room to grow via acquisitions.

Although the CEO mentioned that the bank is not dealing with high expectations for mergers and acquisitions, the bank could potentially acquire a lender given the right price and location. Scharf also added that WFC could expand into categories such as payments and wealth management.

Earlier, Scharf had also discussed his plan to turn Wells Fargo into the best American bank for all customers and to move it into the top five investment banks within the country.

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