16 Jun
Wachovia bank is a name known by many. It’s one of the United States better known bank brands. That name, however, will slowly disappear from banks and sports arenas. Wells Fargo stock purchased the large bank during the financial crisis of 2008-2009. Much of the less cosmetic changes have already occurred at Wachovia banks. Most significantly, the high customer service, personal branch feel transition is already occurring. Much of this has meant the hiring or more people to assist customers in branches. The name change, however, has not. That will begin to change in many places this year. While California has already transitioned, Texas and Kansas will next month. Those areas will be followed by conversations in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia.
05 Apr
Appaloosa Management is under SEC investigation for its shorting of the Wells Fargo stock prior to a secondary offering that it participated in. Appaloosa is a hedge fund run by David Tepper. The rule under investigation has to do with covering outstanding short positions with cheaper secondary offering shares. Palmyra Capital Advisors have already been fined $400,000 for a short-secondary cover scheme that they participated in. This rule is relatively new, with the SEC taking a closer look at such transactions beginning in 2007. The Wells Fargo stock secondary offering in question was significant because it was the offering that raised the money to complete the bank’s acquisition of Wachovia Corporation.
27 Dec
Wells Fargo & Company is a public company based in the United States and traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the stock symbol WFC. Officially the company serves as a financial holding company and a banking holding company. As of 2009 it is a +$100 billion market cap company, making it one of the largest financial institutions in the United States. Some of its largest businesses are wholesale banking and mortgage related services. It also has a large business in consumer finance. The company added a huge piece in the consumer, retail banking field with the purchase of Wachovia Corporation at the end of 2008. This makes community banking one of Wells Fargo’s largest divisions. Wells Fargo Financial, its auto loan and consumer finance division, is its smallest unit, something that is no surprise given the current economic climate.
Through the financial crisis, Wells Fargo remained a dividend earning stock, though the company cut its dividend to investors during 2009 to 5 cents per quarter, generally making the yield less than 1 percent depending on the stock price quote in 2009.
Since it began being publicly traded in 1978, the stock has return nearly 3000%. The company currently operates in 39 states and the District of Columbia, making it a near national American institution.