Hotchkis & Wiley praises Wells Fargo for strong performance and high market share in banking

From Yahoo Finance: 2025-03-31 08:36:00

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management released its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter for the Large Cap Fundamental Value Fund, which returned -0.91% in Q4, outperforming the Russell 1000 Value Index. The fund underperformed the index for the full year, returning 12.81% vs. 14.37% for the index. Check out the fund’s top five holdings for more information.

In the investor letter, Hotchkis & Wiley highlighted Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), a diversified financial services company. Wells Fargo had a one-month return of -8.23% and a 52-week gain of 22.70%. On March 28, 2025, Wells Fargo closed at $70.69 per share with a market cap of $230.814 billion.

Hotchkis & Wiley praised Wells Fargo in its Q4 2024 letter, citing the company’s high market share of deposits and strong performance due to potential deregulation. The company is viewed as one of the best franchises in banking with a history of high returns on assets and equity.

Despite Wells Fargo’s potential, it is not among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds. However, 96 hedge fund portfolios held the stock at the end of Q4, up from 72 in the previous quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley believes AI stocks offer greater promise for higher returns in a shorter timeframe, suggesting investors consider AI stocks like NVIDIA for potential gains.



Read more at Yahoo Finance: What Makes Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) One of the Best Franchises in Banking?