Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Has $58.35 Million Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Bank of America by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, holding 1,398,256 shares valued at approximately $58.35 million.
• Bank of America announced a $40 billion stock buyback program, indicating that its management believes the stock is undervalued.
• The company recently lifted its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, representing a 2.3% yield.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,398,256 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,608 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises about 1.3% of Ceredex Value Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $58,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 9.9% in the first quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 153,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,388,000 after purchasing an additional 13,752 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Hawaii bought a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth $544,000. Old West Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 232.9% in the first quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 71,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 49,908 shares in the last quarter. Ally Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 226.1% in the first quarter. Ally Financial Inc. now owns 150,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,260,000 after purchasing an additional 104,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 4.0% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 89,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,722,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC cut shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.76. 26,499,250 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,859,883. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $50.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $375.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is an increase 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 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.41%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% 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.