Wells Fargo settles Wachovia lawsuit

Article Excerpt

WELLS FARGO & CO. $27 (New York symbol WFC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 5.3 billion; Market cap: $143.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 0.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.wellsfargo.com) has agreed to settle a lawsuit stemming from its 2008 purchase of troubled banking firm Wachovia Corp. Citigroup Inc. (New York symbol C) had originally agreed to buy Wachovia with the help of U.S. banking regulators. However, Wachovia accepted a higher offer from Wells Fargo. Citigroup claimed that Wachovia broke an exclusivity deal that prevented it from negotiating with other banks. Wells Fargo will now pay Citigroup $100 million. That’s small next to the $3.2 billion, or $0.60 a share, that Wells Fargo earned in the three months ended September 30, 2010. Wells Fargo is a hold. hold…