U.S. markets close in 5 hours 33 minutes
  • S&P 500

    3,911.17
    -4.42 (-0.11%)
     
  • Dow 30

    31,305.50
    -80.26 (-0.26%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    14,026.40
    +38.75 (+0.28%)
     
  • Russell 2000

    2,284.77
    -4.99 (-0.22%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    57.75
    -0.22 (-0.38%)
     
  • Gold

    1,843.60
    +9.40 (+0.51%)
     
  • Silver

    27.50
    -0.08 (-0.29%)
     
  • EUR/USD

    1.2101
    +0.0044 (+0.36%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    1.1450
    -0.0150 (-1.29%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.3794
    +0.0057 (+0.41%)
     
  • USD/JPY

    104.5180
    -0.7000 (-0.67%)
     
  • BTC-USD

    46,844.74
    +3,072.50 (+7.02%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    935.95
    +4.06 (+0.44%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    6,534.53
    +11.00 (+0.17%)
     
  • Nikkei 225

    29,505.93
    +117.43 (+0.40%)
     

What BofA Thinks About Wells Fargo Asset Cap

Priya Nigam
·1 min read

Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC) seems poised to benefit from the estimated 19% growth in the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet in 2021, which is driving deposit growth in the banking sector, according to BofA Securities.

The Wells Fargo Analyst: Erika Najarian maintained a Neutral rating for Wells Fargo, with a price target of $36.

The Wells Fargo Thesis: The Fed had offered temporary relief on SLR (supplementary leverage ratio), “which exempted banks from holding capital against cash and U.S. Treasuries in the SLR calculation,” Najarian said in the note.

If the Fed allows this to expire on March 31, 2021, and grows its balance sheet, “big bank excess capital as a % of market cap shrinks by 37%,” he added.

“Clearly, with the asset cap, WFC significantly underperformed industry deposit growth of 24% in ’20. But, if the Fed balance sheet continues to grow, it makes no sense to us to continue to sideline the fourth-largest bank in the U.S. — which has 23% of market cap in excess capital and would not be constrained by SLR in any scenario,” the analyst wrote.

WFC Price Action: Shares of Wells Fargo closed Monday's session up 2.6% at $33.40.

(Photo: Wells Fargo)

Latest Ratings for WFC

Date

Firm

Action

From

To

Jan 2021

Credit Suisse

Upgrades

Neutral

Outperform

Jan 2021

Seaport Global

Upgrades

Neutral

Buy

Jan 2021

Raymond James

Maintains

Outperform

View More Analyst Ratings for WFC
View the Latest Analyst Ratings

See more from Benzinga

© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.