Dick Bove Upgrades Wells Fargo To Buy (WFC)

Rochdale Securities analyst Richard Bove raised his rating on Wells Fargo WFC to buy from hold Thursday on optimism about the banking giant's access to cheap funding. Bove raised his price target on the stock to $30 from $29. Wells Fargo increased its deposits by almost $11 billion to $816 billion in the second quarter, while "no cost" non-interest bearing deposits rose by $5 billion, Bove said. Meanwhile, assets didn't grow as much and risk on the balance sheet declined in the period, he added. "The bank's funding continues to improve," Bove wrote in a note to investors. "Its low or no cost funding sources are growing at a faster rate than the overall balance sheet increasing the stability of the institution." Wells Fargo shares are currently trading at $27.33, up $1.27‎ on the day.