Evercore ISI Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has raised its price target for Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from $55.00 to $57.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.59% from the stock's previous close.
• Bank of America reported earnings of $1.06 per share for the last quarter, beating estimates of $0.93, with revenue reaching $28.09 billion, surpassing analyst expectations.
• The company has authorized a $40.00 billion share repurchase plan, which is often interpreted as a sign that the board believes the shares are undervalued.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price objective raised by analysts at Evercore ISI from $55.00 to $57.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Evercore ISI's price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.59% from the stock's previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.86.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5%

Bank of America stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $52.01. The company had a trading volume of 10,068,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,557,469. The firm has a market capitalization of $385.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. 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's fifty day moving average is $49.89 and its 200-day moving average is $45.67. Bank of America has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $28.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,091,641,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 124.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,619,837 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $833,771,000 after purchasing an additional 9,782,208 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $202,439,000. Finally, Unisphere Establishment increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,642.5% during the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $175,057,000 after purchasing an additional 3,954,250 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by 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.

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