Wells Fargo pressed to cut payout to shareholders
"A dividend cut would save Wells Fargo around $5 billion," say bond-watchers at CreditSights Inc.
"Citigroup and Bank of America have both reduced their common stock dividend to 1 cent following government capital support requirements," notes CreditSights Inc. boss David Hendler and colleagues, in a report to clients.
"JPMorgan, which could be viewed as the least affected (major bank) by the current downturn, proactively reduced its dividend to 5 cents (each quarter) to conserve around $5 billion... We believe Wells Fargo, which has an annual common dividend burden of almost $5.8 billion, could also follow suit and cut its dividend to 1 cent or 5 cents, down from 34 cents. We estimate that such a dividend cut would save Wells Fargo around $5 billion to $5.5 billion, annually."
Wells Fargo, the biggest bank in Philadelphia and many other markets, is a widely-held stock, and a dividend cut would make it less attractive, not least for president John Stumpf and other senior executives.
























