The sudden resignation of Wells Fargo & Co.’s chief financial officer had its stock price lower.
The company’s shares fell nearly 3 percent in early trading on the abrupt retirement of the bank’s CFO, which was announced late Tuesday.
The San Francisco-based bank announced that CFO and executive vice president Howard Atkins, 60, is retiring for personal reasons.
Atkins’ retirement becomes effective in August, following an unpaid leave of absence that he will begin immediately, Wells Fargo said in a written statement issued Tuesday after the market closed.
Wells Fargo said Atkins’ retirement is “unrelated to the company’s financial condition or financial reporting.”
Shares of the bank fell 96 cents to $33.14 in early trading. The stock hit a 52-week high Tuesday of $34.10 a share and is up 44 percent since last August.
The sudden departure of Atkins surprised Wall Street analysts, who warned Tuesday that the stock could come under selling pressure.
Scott Siefers, managing director at Sandler O’Neill & Partners in New York, said in a research note that the terms of Atkins’ departure, with its unpaid leave of absence, was “not typical” and contrasted sharply with the “well-telegraphed” transfer of the chief executive officer a year ago from Dick Kovacevich to John Stumpf.
“This one is obviously different,” Siefers wrote.
“While we are glad that the departure is unrelated to [Wells Fargo’s] financial condition or reporting, we expect the stock to come under some near-term pressure as the market digests such a big surprise,” Siefers wrote.
David George, a bank analyst at Robert W. Baird, said “the timing of this announcement is not ideal,” given volatility in interest rates and new international rules that require banks to hold more capital.
“Atkins was very highly regarded by the Street as [Wells Fargo] delivered impressive growth,” George wrote in a research note issued Tuesday.
Atkins has been replaced as CFO by Timothy Sloan, 50, Wells Fargo’s current chief administrative officer and a senior executive vice president.
