Does Wells Fargo (WFC) Pay a Dividend? (2026)
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
Yes. Wells Fargo (WFC) pays a dividend yielding about 2.31% as of August 2026, paid quarterly, four times a year. The latest payment on record was $0.45 per share, ex-dividend May 8, 2026. The forward annual rate is roughly $2.00 per share, about $231 a year on a $10,000 position before tax. The payout takes about 26% of earnings. Figures are approximate and dated; verify the current number with your broker.
Does Wells Fargo (WFC) pay a dividend?
Yes. Wells Fargo distributes a dividend yielding roughly 2.31% as of August 2026, paid quarterly, four times a year. The most recent payment on record was $0.45 per share, with an ex-dividend date of May 8, 2026. Annualized, that is about $2.00 per share.
Reading a large bank means looking past a single earnings number to a handful of structural metrics. Return on tangible common equity (ROTCE) shows how efficiently the bank turns shareholder capital into profit; Wells Fargo's ~14.6% in 2025 trails best-in-class peers but is rising toward its 17-18% target. The efficiency ratio (costs as a share of revenue, running in the mid-60s percent) measures how lean the operation is, and net interest income tracks the rate-sensitive core of profitability. The CET1 ratio (~10.6%) gauges capital strength and how much room exists for buybacks and dividends, and Wells Fargo has been returning large amounts of capital. The distinctive upside here is the 2025 asset-cap removal, which lifts a structural lid on growth that constrained the bank for seven years; the open question is how much of that future growth is already reflected in the share price.
WFC dividend at a glance
| 2026-05-08 | $0.45 |
| 2026-02-06 | $0.45 |
| 2025-11-07 | $0.45 |
| 2025-08-08 | $0.45 |
| 2025-05-09 | $0.4 |
| 2025-02-07 | $0.4 |
WFC dividend data as of August 2026, sourced from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. Yield moves with price and payout; confirm the current dividend and ex-date with WFC's investor relations page before relying on it.
Is the WFC dividend covered?
Wells Fargo paid out about 26% of its earnings as dividends, so the payout is very well covered. A low ratio means the dividend has plenty of room and the company is keeping most of its profit to reinvest or buy back stock, which is also why the yield is modest.
Coverage is the question worth asking before yield. A dividend is only as good as the earnings behind it, and the highest yields on any screen are often the ones closest to being cut. Walnut is informational and is not an investment adviser.
How the WFC dividend has changed
The latest payment of $0.45 per share compares with $0.40 in the equivalent payment a year earlier (May 9, 2025). That is a change of 12.5% over the year.
A single year says little on its own. What dividend-growth investors track is the multi-year record: whether the payout has risen through a downturn, and whether the raises have kept pace with inflation. That record is on WFC's investor relations page.
What WFC's dividend means for you
- Income: about $231 a year per $10,000 invested, before tax.
- Yield is a ratio, not a payment: it rises when the share price falls. A jump in yield without a raise in the dividend means the stock got cheaper, which may or may not be good news.
- Total return: for WFC the dividend is one part of return and price change is usually the larger part. Compare total return, not yield, when weighing it against another holding.
- Reinvest or take the cash: a DRIP compounds the position automatically; taking the cash gives you income now. Either way it is taxable in a taxable account.
- If you want more yield: dedicated dividend names and funds target higher, steadier payouts. See the best dividend stocks and best dividend ETFs.
How WFC dividends are taxed
Dividends from US common stock are usually qualified, which means they are taxed at long-term capital-gains rates rather than as ordinary income, as long as you held the shares for more than 60 days in the 121-day window around the ex-dividend date. Distributions from REITs and BDCs generally do not qualify and are taxed as ordinary income. Inside an IRA, Roth, or 401(k) none of this applies while the money stays in the account. Full detail is in how dividends are taxed. This is not tax advice.
The bottom line on the WFC dividend
Wells Fargo (WFC) pays about 2.31%, or roughly $2.00 per share a year. At that level the dividend is a modest supplement rather than the reason to own it: the case rests on total return. For the full picture see the WFC guide. Walnut can show how WFC fits your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Investing in Wells Fargo with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how WFC fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
Does Wells Fargo (WFC) pay a dividend?
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Yes. Wells Fargo pays a dividend yielding roughly 2.31% as of August 2026, paid quarterly, four times a year. The most recent payment on record was $0.45 per share with an ex-dividend date of May 8, 2026. That works out to a forward annual rate of about $2.00 per share. Yields move with the share price, so verify the current figure with your broker or WFC's investor relations page before relying on it.
What is WFC's dividend yield?
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About 2.31% as of August 2026. On a $10,000 position that is roughly $231 of dividend income a year before tax. For context, the S&P 500 yields around 1.2%, so WFC yields meaningfully more than the broad market. A higher yield is not automatically better: it can reflect a falling share price as easily as a generous payout, so it is worth checking why the number is what it is.
How often does WFC pay its dividend?
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Wells Fargo pays quarterly, four times a year. The most recent payment on record had an ex-dividend date of May 8, 2026. To receive a given payment you have to own the shares before the ex-dividend date, not on the pay date. Confirm upcoming dates on WFC's investor relations page, because boards can change both the amount and the timing.
When is WFC's ex-dividend date?
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The ex-dividend date recorded in our August 2026 data pull is August 7, 2026. The ex-dividend date is the cutoff: buy on or after it and the seller keeps that payment, not you. Buying just before the ex-date to capture the dividend does not create free money, because the share price typically drops by roughly the dividend amount when the stock goes ex. Check WFC's investor relations page for the next confirmed date.
Has Wells Fargo raised its dividend recently?
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Yes. The latest payment of $0.45 per share is above the $0.40 paid in the same slot a year earlier, an increase of about 12.5%. One raise is not a policy, though: check the multi-year record on WFC's investor relations page, since a long streak of increases is what dividend-growth investors actually look for.
Is WFC's dividend safe?
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Wells Fargo paid out about 26% of its earnings as dividends, so the payout is very well covered. A low ratio means the dividend has plenty of room and the company is keeping most of its profit to reinvest or buy back stock, which is also why the yield is modest. Nobody can guarantee a dividend: boards cut them, and a high yield is sometimes the market pricing in exactly that. Walnut is not an investment adviser and this is not a recommendation.
How much would I earn in dividends from a $10,000 position in WFC?
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At a yield of about 2.31%, roughly $231 a year before tax, spread across 4 payments. That is a snapshot, not a promise: the amount changes when the company changes its payout, and your yield on cost is fixed at the price you paid, not at today's price.
Are WFC dividends qualified for tax purposes?
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Dividends from US common stock are usually qualified, meaning they are taxed at the lower long-term capital-gains rates, provided you held the shares for more than 60 days in the 121-day window around the ex-dividend date. Distributions from REITs, BDCs, and some pass-through structures are generally taxed as ordinary income instead. In an IRA or Roth the question does not arise. See our guide to how dividends are taxed. This is not tax advice.
Should I reinvest WFC dividends?
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Most brokers offer automatic reinvestment (a DRIP) that puts each WFC payment straight back into more shares, often fractional ones. Reinvesting compounds the position and is the standard choice when you do not need the cash yet. Taking the cash makes sense when you are spending the income or want to direct it elsewhere. Either way the dividend is taxable in a taxable account in the year it is paid, even if you never see the money.
Does WFC pay a dividend?
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Yes. Wells Fargo pays a quarterly cash dividend and currently yields roughly 2.1%. The board approved a 13% dividend increase in the third quarter of 2025. The bank also returns large amounts of capital through buybacks, authorizing a repurchase program of up to $40 billion in 2025 (with capacity reaching about $50 billion) and repurchasing roughly $18 billion of stock during the year.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Dividend figures on this page come from a August 2026 data pull and are approximate; verify the current yield, amount, schedule, and policy with WFC's investor relations page or your broker before acting on them.
Guides that feature WFC
WFC is one of the names covered in these guides. Each one puts the stock next to its peers so you can see where it fits rather than judging it alone.