Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with 21 out of 26 research firms recommending a buy.
• The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for its latest quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.86, and achieved a revenue increase of 4.3% year-over-year.
• Bank of America recently announced a dividend increase from $0.26 to $0.28 per share and also authorized a $40 billion stock buyback plan.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-one have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.6364.

Several brokerages have issued reports on BAC. Seaport Global Securities boosted their price target on Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Bank of America from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Bank of America from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% during the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 246.5% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 523 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the second quarter worth $28,000. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 224.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 585.4% during the second quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 610 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $48.62 on Monday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $49.61 and its 200 day moving average is $45.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $360.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $52.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Bank of America

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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