Wells Fargo Pays $312.5 Million Dividend to U.S. Treasury

A recent press release from Wells Fargo & Company announced a total quarterly dividend of $312.5 million payable to the U.S. Treasury on the Company's 25,000 shares of Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series D held exclusively by the Treasury. This stock was purchased from Wells Fargo under the department’s Capital Purchase Program (CPP). The report says that a dividend of $12,500 per share was payable May 15, 2009.

“Since last October when Wells Fargo received this investment from the U.S. Treasury, Wells Fargo has extended more than $225 billion of credit to U.S. consumers and businesses,” said Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins. “In the first quarter alone, we originated $101 billion in home mortgages helping 450,000 customers finance a mortgage - almost double the number of customers who did so with us the previous quarter.”

Wells Fargo also announced their first quarter lending highlights:

$175 billion in loan commitments, mortgage originations and mortgage securities purchases

$190 billion in mortgage applications, including record $83 billion in applications in March

$101 billion in mortgage originations, helping over 450,000 homeowners purchase a home or refinance

$225 billion of credit extended to U.S. taxpayers since last October, nine times the amount received from U.S. taxpayers through the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program investment