Bank of America vs Wells Fargo &
BAC and WFC side by side, both in commercial banks. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How BAC and WFC compare
Bank of America is the larger company, worth 1.4 times as much as Wells Fargo & ($350B against $252B).
On earnings, Bank of America is cheaper: it trades at 11.9× trailing earnings, against 12.1× for Wells Fargo &.
Wells Fargo & grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (6.2% versus 5.4% for Bank of America).
Bank of America keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 26.8% compared with 26.0% at Wells Fargo &.
Both pay dividends: Bank of America yields 2.3% and Wells Fargo & 2.2%.
Bank of America scores higher on the StockData Score (12 against 11 for Wells Fargo &), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | BAC | WFC |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $350B | $252B |
| Share price | $50.01 | $83.40 |
| Change, 1 year | −4.9% | −3.0% |
| Change, 5 years | 6.5% | 65.3% |
| Beta (5Y) | 1.11 | 0.98 |
| Employees | 213K | 205K |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 12 (better) | 11 |
| Valuation score | 5 (better) | 2 |
| Growth score | 0 | 1 (better) |
| Performance score | 1 | 4 (better) |
| Health score | 4 (better) | 2 |
| Dividend score | 2 | 2 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 11.9× (better) | 12.1× |
| P/S | 2.9× | 2.9× (better) |
| P/B | 1.2× (better) | 1.4× |
| PEG | 1.95 | 0.50 (better) |
| Fair value | $51.52 | $77.51 |
| Margin of safety | 2.9% (better) | −7.6% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 5.4% | 6.2% (better) |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 5.7% (better) | 2.4% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 9.8% | 9.9% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 15.7% | 17.8% (better) |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 15.3% | 70.9% (better) |
| Profitability | ||
| Net margin | 26.8% (better) | 26.0% |
| Return on equity | 10.8% | 12.5% (better) |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | – | 0.14 |
| Altman Z-score | 0.22 | 0.26 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 (better) | 5 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 2.3% (better) | 2.2% |
| Payout ratio | – | 24.7% |
| Years of dividend growth | 12 (better) | 4 |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 8.4% (better) | 6.9% |
| Buyback yield | 7.3% (better) | 7.1% |
| Shareholder yield | 9.6% (better) | 9.4% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 76.8% | 77.4% |
| Held by insiders | 0.15% | 0.17% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$31.1M | −$10.1M (better) |
| Superinvestors holding | 8 | 9 (better) |
Go deeper
- BAC stock overview
- BAC income statement
- BAC valuation and score
- WFC stock overview
- WFC income statement
- WFC valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.