This week, I'm looking for the seventh financial services representative of seven for my Ivy portfolio.

That financial sector includes twenty industries ranging from Asset Management to 8 kinds of Banks, Credit, Exchanges, 6 kinds of Insurance, Savings, and all such financial concerns. Today I have a real estate investment trust, however.

Today I'm reviewing a large-cap bank named Wells Fargo & Co. Their trading ticker symbol is WFC.

Wells Fargo is one of the largest banks in the United States, with approximately $1.9 trillion in balance sheet assets.

The company is split into three segments for reporting purposes: community banking; wholesale banking; and wealth and investment management.

The community banking segment serves consumers and small businesses with products including deposit accounts, credit and debit cards, and student, mortgage, and home equity loans.

Wholesale banking includes corporate and commercial real estate lending, asset-based lending and trade financing, merchant services, and capital markets businesses.

Wealth and investment management includes advisory, brokerage, retirement, and trust services. The bulk of Wells' lending takes place in the U.S.

As of February 7, 2019, it operated through 7,800 locations, 13,000 ATMs, and the Internet and mobile banking, as well as offices in 37 countries and territories.

Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

I use three key data points to gauge dividend-paying equities or funds like Wells Fargo:

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Besides those three, several other keys will finally unlock an equity or fund in which to invest.

Those three basic keys, however, best tell whether a company has made, is making, and will make money.

WFC Price

Well's price per share closed at $48.55 yesterday. A year ago its price was $57.29. Price fell $8.74 or near 15.25% in the past year.

Assuming Well's stock trades in the range of $40.00 to $60.00 this year, Well's recent $48.55 price could rise by $1.45 and go to $50.00 by late-July, 2020.

WFC Dividends

Well's most recent quarterly dividend is $0.51 payable September 1st.

That $0.51 Q payout equates to an annual dividend of $2.04 generating a yield of 4.2% based on yesterday's $48.55 closing price.

Gains For WFC?

Adding the $2.04 annual estimated dividend to my $1.45 estimate of Well's price upside shows a $3.49 potential gross annual gain, per share, which will be reduced by costs to trade those shares.

Say we pay a little over $1,000.00 today at the $48.55 recent stock price, we'd buy 21 Wells Fargo & Co shares.

A $10 broker fee paid half at purchase and half at sale will cost us $0.48 per share.

Subtract that $0.48 brokerage cost from the estimated $3.49 gross annual gain leaves a net gain of $3.01 X 21 shares = $63.21 or a 6.3% net gain on a $1,019.55 investment.

Therefore, Wells Fargo & Cot whose trading ticker symbol is WFC now shows a possible net gain of 6.3% including a 4.2% dividend yield.

Thirty brokers track Wells Fargo & Co stock:

Four say "Buy" WFC.

Three say WFC will "Outperform" its peers.

Nineteen says "hold"  WFC.

One says WFC will "Underperform" its peers.

Three say "Sell" WFC.

Their consensus score of 2.9 equates to Hold."

Now we can look at Wells Fargo & Co and see it has made money, is making money, and could net a 6.3% gain including a 4.2% dividend yield. It could be more, it could be less.

The above speculation is based on past year performance. The actual results remain to be seen to learn if Wells Fargo & Co is worth your time and money.