Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, April 17, 2020

Article Excerpt

WELLS FARGO & CO., $28.38, New York symbol WFC, remains our #1 Income Buy for 2020. The bank last raised its quarterly dividend with the September 2019 payment. Investors now receive $0.51 a share, up 13.3% from $0.45. The new annual rate of $2.04 yields you a high 7.2%. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. Federal Reserve has now eased its cap on Wells Fargo’s total assets. The Fed put the cap in place in response to the 2016 discovery that the bank’s employees opened over 3.5 million unauthorized accounts to meet sales targets. In the wake of that scandal, Wells Fargo fired 5,000 employees involved in the scandal and tightened up its oversight procedures. Easing the asset cap will let Wells Fargo increase lending to small businesses (that meet certain criteria) under the U.S. government’s coronavirus relief bill. The program lets banks sell 95% of those loans to the Fed. However, the crisis will undoubtedly force more borrowers to fall behind or…