BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Lowers Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp has reduced its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1.1%, ending the most recent quarter with approximately $108.49 million in shares.
• Bank of America reported earnings of $0.89 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.28 per share.
• The stock has recently been upgraded by several analysts, with a majority rating it as "Moderate Buy" and establishing an average target price of $50.13.

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,599,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 28,464 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for about 0.7% of BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Bank of America were worth $108,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 25,143 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Bank of America by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 860,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,797,000 after purchasing an additional 226,246 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in Bank of America by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 89,203 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,920,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 28,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hayek Kallen Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of BAC stock opened at $49.4850 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $49.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $366.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.86.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. Bank of America's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC lowered Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

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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