It may be always sunny in Philadelphia, but not so much for Wells Fargo ($WFC). The bank will be leaving the city’s main sports arena once its current sponsorship contract with the venue ends in 2025.
The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia will have a different name starting in 2025, when the current contract runs out. As to why it is giving up sponsorship of the center, which is home to hockey’s Philadelphia Flyers and basketball’s Philadelphia 76ers, Wells Fargo said simply, “…we have made the business decision not to renew the naming rights contract.”
The sports arena will now have to look for a new sponsor. Wells Fargo actually inherited the arena sponsorship when it merged with Wachovia back in 2014. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo has been actively pulling back on sports sponsorships, having given up a PGA Tour event last year.
Getting the Name Out
Wells Fargo is looking at other forms of marketing. First, it is stepping up its Homebuyer Access grants in Oklahoma, offering up $10,000 grants to “eligible homebuyers who currently live in or are pursuing homes in certain underserved communities in 12 new metropolitan areas.”
Wells Fargo also offered a piece of its own history to the Wesley W. Jung Carriage Museum in Greenbush, Wisconsin, donating one of its own stagecoaches to the museum, a vintage 1875 Abbot-Downing Company Concord stagecoach.
Is Wells Fargo Stock a Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on WFC stock based on 12 Buys and nine Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 71.09% rally in its share price over the past year, the average WFC price target of $66.70 implies 11.4% downside risk.
