Can Wells Fargo Earnings Justify Massive Book Value Premium?

Banking, finance, and taxes

Published: April 14, 2015 10:00 am

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) reported its first-quarter financial results Tuesday before the markets opened. The bank of Warren Buffett had $1.04 in earnings per share (EPS) on $21.3 billion in revenue. That compared to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $0.98 in EPS and revenue of $21.24 billion. In the same quarter of the previous year, the bank posted EPS of $1.05 on $20.62 billion in revenue.

On the books, total average deposits for Wells Fargo were $1.2 trillion for the first quarter. This was up 97.5 billion or 9% from the same period in the previous year.

Overall, the bank reported a return on assets (ROA) of 1.38% and a return on equity (ROE) of 13.17%.

Wells Fargo had total average loans of $863.3 billion, up $39.5 billion, or 5%, from first quarter 2014. Quarter-end loans came in at $861.2 billion, up $34.8 billion, or 4%. At the same time, quarter-end core loans were $802.7 billion, a 7% gain.

No objection was given from the Federal Reserve to Wells Fargo’s 2015 capital plan. This included a proposed dividend rate of $0.375 per share for the second quarter of 2015, but this is still subject to board approval. It would be an increase from $0.35 per share in the first quarter.

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The bank has a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio under Basel III (Advanced Approach, fully phased-in) of 10.53%. Wells Fargo reported a book value of $32.70 per share for the first quarter, which puts current share prices at a 67% premium.

John Shrewsberry, chief financial officer at Wells Fargo, said:

Wells Fargo earned $5.8 billion in first quarter 2015, an increase of $95 million from the prior quarter, including the benefit from lower income tax expense in the first quarter. Credit quality remained strong, as net charge-offs continued to decline. Expenses also decreased from the prior quarter and our efficiency ratio improved. We remained within our targeted ranges for ROA, ROE, efficiency ratio and net payout ratio, while maintaining record liquidity and capital levels.

These analyst calls on Wells Fargo were seen ahead of earnings:

JPMorgan reiterated a Hold rating and raised its price target slightly to $53.50.
Zacks reiterated a Hold rating with a price target of $58.
Deutsche Bank reiterated a Hold rating with a price target of $56.

Shares of Wells Fargo down 1.3% to $53.89 Tuesday morning following the release of the earnings report. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $57.19 and a 52-week trading range of $46.44 to $56.29.

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