FBR Capital Reiterates Market Perfrm on Wells Fargo (WFC) Following 4Q Miss
FBR Capital reiterated a Market Perform rating and $55.00 price target on Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) following the company's 4Q earnings report. WFC reported EPS of $0.96, missing FBR's estimate of $1.01 and the Street estimate of $1.00. The miss was largely driven by non-interest revenue dipping 11.5% quarter over quarter. As a result, the efficiency ratio spiked to 61.2%, up 180 bps from the third quarter.
Analyst Paul Miller commented, "Wells Fargo reported 4Q16 GAAP EPS of $0.96, missing FBR's estimate of $1.01 and the Street estimate of $1.00. Wells had a disappointing fourth quarter as a combination of hedging inefficiencies, low mortgage banking revenue, and losses from trading all weighed on earnings. The company estimates that its hedges on long-term debt alone cost it $0.07 on GAAP EPS this quarter. On a positive note, Wells displayed its ability to take full advantage of its asset sensitive balance sheet in a rising rate environment by tacking on 5 bps to NIM while net interest income rose 3.8% quarter over quarter. As far as the retail sales practice scandal goes, the company has taken on various initiatives to rebuild customer trust, which has shown signs of improvement, but is still nowhere near revitalized. Overall, this wasn't the best quarter for Wells as the scandal continued to cast a shadow on retail confidence and non-interest revenues looked sluggish. That said, we see tailwinds in the company's near future from interest rates and Washington policies, which should propel Wells forward. We maintain our Market Perform rating and price target of $55."
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Shares of Wells Fargo closed at $55.31 yesterday.