Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy", with 17 analysts recommending a buy and 5 suggesting a hold.
• The company has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28, representing a 2.33% dividend yield and an annualized total of $1.12.
• A share buyback program has been authorized for up to $40 billion, enabling the repurchase of approximately 11.1% of its shares, indicating confidence in the company’s valuation.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-two research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $50.03.

BAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cfra Research raised their price objective on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $48.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $361.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $49.31. The business's 50-day moving average is $46.05 and its 200 day moving average is $43.77.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.41%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 28,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,344,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Bank of America by 75.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hayek Kallen Investment Management raised its stake in Bank of America by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 12,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.

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