Wells Fargo nearly doubles 1Q dividend

[March 15, 2012]  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Wells Fargo & Co. says it will nearly double the size of its quarterly dividend after passing the Federal Reserve's stress test.

Earlier this month the San Francisco-based bank paid out a first-quarter dividend of 12 cents per share. It now will make another payout of 10 cents per share on March 30 to shareholders of record on March 26, boosting its total quarterly dividend to 22 cents.

Other major banks also say they will boost their dividends after passing the Fed's stress test, including U.S. Bancorp and JPMorgan Chase.

The Fed gave 19 banks a "stress test" that evaluates how well they might perform in a financial crisis. Four major U.S. banks failed to show they have enough capital to survive another serious downturn, including Citigroup.

[Associated Press]

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