TopGun^® Press

Brendan Wood International Investor Conviction Intel – Financials – February 10th 2025

February 10th, 2025 by TopGun Press

Below are the most “talked about” Financial Stocks on the BWI Shareholder Confidence Index based on our daily consultations with global investors.

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Commitment to Own the Name in the Year Ahead Changes in Investor Confidence Scores – FIG Sector

(YE 1Q 2025 as of February 7th vs. YE 4Q 2024)

Legend:

Increase: Higher Quality Metric Score Compared to Result from 4Q 2024

Static: Unchanged Quality Metric Score Compared to Result from 4Q 2024

Decrease: Lower Quality Metric Score Compared to Result from 4Q 2024

Wells Fargo & Co.

Increase: Commitment to Own the Name in the Year Ahead, Strategy, CEO, Short Term Growth, Balance Sheet, Momentum of Investor Confidence, Price Appreciation Potential

Static: Transparency/Disclosure, CFO, Board of Directors, Senior Management

Decrease: Long Term Growth

“Wells Fargo is a turnaround story.”

“Although I haven’t been closely involved with Wells Fargo, my overall view of it has been positive. It’s still a strong business with a solid customer base. Additionally, I have always viewed the potential removal of the asset cap favourably.”

“Wells Fargo’s CEO, Charlie Scharf, is good. He just came into a difficult setup. He’s going to be recognized soon for the work he’s done.”

Global Payments Inc

Increase: Commitment to Own the Name in the Year Ahead, Senior Management, CFO, Balance Sheet, Momentum of Investor Confidence, Short Term Growth, Price Appreciation Potential

Static: Strategy, CEO, Board of Directors

Decrease: Long Term Growth

“One of the things that is not really recognized for Global Payments is how big they actually are in terms of online payments. A lot of people think they are an old company with old technology. They think it’s basically a dinosaur, and the rest will eat up the market share, but the opposite is happening. They are pretty good on the online side, but the communication is horrible on that. “

“For Global Payments, we look at the cash flow instead of earnings. When you look at the cash flow profile, it’s pretty stable. You don’t have all of the one-offs and the adjusted EBITDA numbers that people speak about, which creates the volatility. Have a look at the cash profile because that paints a different picture compared to their earnings. We own the name with high conviction.”

Progressive Corp

Increase: Commitment to Own the Name in the Year Ahead, Transparency/Disclosure, Balance Sheet, Board of Directors, Long Term Growth, Momentum of Investor Confidence, Short Term Growth

Static: CEO* (Sector Leader), Strategy* (Sector Leader), Balance Sheet* (Sector Leader), Senior Management* (Sector Leader)

Decrease: CFO, Price Appreciation Potential

“Progressive is highly transparent, releasing detailed financials monthly and engaging frequently with investors. I guess their management team doesn’t meet with investors, so I can understand why people have a bad taste in their mouths. However, they also show everything, every month.”

“Progressive has been growing policies and taking tons of market share this year.”

About Brendan Wood International:

Brendan Wood International (BWI), formed in 1970, is a private advisory group which originates performance investigation programs in the capital markets. Relying on its real time intelligence, BWI advises public companies, institutional and activist investors, investment banks and broker dealers on strategy, performance and recruitment of TopGun talent. Big cap companies looking for comprehensive investor confidence data on their organizations are likely to discover that Brendan Wood partners consult with their investors non stop year round. There are 2000+ live consultations with investment professionals overseeing +/- $60 trillion invested in the +/- 1400 big cap companies on the BWI Index. Investors depend on BWI to quantify the demand side of the investment industry, including the name by name research sales and trading professionals who influence investor demand. The firm’s partners have formally presented at 1000+ C level strategy meetings and corporate off-sites in fifty cities. Brendan Wood founded the exclusive TopGun Club, a performance based institution.

Disclaimer:

We wish to emphasize that all reports, evaluations and assessments contained herein, represent Brendan Wood International’s subjective judgment and opinions, based on our years of experience and on information obtained by us in the course of our research. Much of the factual information contained in the reports has been obtained by us from third parties on whose responses we have relied in good faith, independent verification by Brendan Wood International being, under the circumstances, impossible. While we believe that you will find our reports to be an invaluable tool in formulating your own strategies and judgments, the foregoing should be borne in mind. This report is not meant as investment advice and should not be interpreted as advising on the value of a company’s securities, the advisability of investing in, purchasing or selling any company’s securities or any other conclusion relating to investment/divestiture of a company’s securities. Finally, this report is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any company’s securities.