Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.0625.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $61.50 to $57.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $6,719,335.56. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,373,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,803,774.97. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 651,076,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,809,225,000 after acquiring an additional 23,351,183 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 11.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 144,371,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,448,816,000 after acquiring an additional 14,275,810 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $4,774,210,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 57,619,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,169,062,000 after acquiring an additional 2,929,779 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 53,783,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,833 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock opened at $56.26 on Friday. Bank of America has a one year low of $44.75 and a one year high of $57.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $52.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $399.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.18.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.11. Bank of America had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The firm had revenue of $30.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.72%.

Bank of America News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s internal research is being cited as bullish for the bank sector, with commentary that higher rates can still support net interest income even as the Fed holds rates steady, which could help BAC’s earnings outlook. Fed Holds Rates But Signals Hike: Key Takeaways for Bank Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America also drew attention for its view that lower-income households may be stabilizing, suggesting the consumer backdrop could be improving and reducing recession fears that would hurt loan growth and credit quality. Miserable K-shaped economy might actually be fading, as lower-income families bounce back, says Bank of America
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America revealed a roughly 3% indirect stake in Qiagen and reported similar holdings disclosures for Umicore; these are portfolio/ownership updates and are unlikely to have a direct impact on BAC’s core banking results. Bank of America Reveals 3.01% Indirect Stake in Qiagen Umicore – Transparency notifications by Bank of America Corporation
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that a Fed official spoke at a private Bank of America client dinner may attract headlines, but it appears more like a reputational/regulatory talking point than a direct earnings driver. The Fed’s vice chair of supervision spoke at a private dinner Bank of America hosted for clients hours after the central bank announced its latest policy decision
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America is facing fresh scrutiny tied to regulators’ upcoming “debanking” findings, which could create policy and compliance concerns for large banks like BAC. Bank Of America (BAC) Faces Fresh Scrutiny As Regulators Ready Debanking Findings

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.