Essex Financial Services Inc. Grows Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Bank of America by 8.5% during the second quarter, now holding 127,580 shares worth approximately $6 million.
• Bank of America announced a new $40 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating confidence in its share valuation.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.28, reflecting a positive shift from its previous dividend of $0.26 per share.

Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,580 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,981 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $6,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after buying an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 4,414.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,654,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $194,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,550,930 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment grew its stake in Bank of America by 1,642.5% in the first 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. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth approximately $164,623,000. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter worth approximately $152,098,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's 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 sale, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $51.67 on Thursday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $48.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.73. The company has a market cap of $382.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $52.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Phillip Securities lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Citigroup upped their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, 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. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.92.

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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