Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.28

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 23rd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.28 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is a 7.7% increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26.

Bank of America has a dividend payout ratio of 24.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Bank of America to earn $4.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.9%.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE BAC traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.47. 24,453,044 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 43,373,284. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $49.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.75. 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 $365.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cfra Research raised their target price on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price target on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.03.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Bank of America stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 25,143 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.