Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Cuts Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. has reduced its stake in Bank of America by 4.6%, owning approximately $24.32 million worth of shares, following the sale of 28,045 shares in the first quarter.
• Bank of America recently reported earnings of $0.89 per share, exceeding expectations, and its revenue rose by 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company has initiated a $40 billion stock buyback plan, signaling management's belief that its stock may be undervalued, while also announcing a dividend increase from $0.26 to $0.28 per share.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. reduced its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 582,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 28,045 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $24,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,876,853,000 after buying an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew 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 worth $2,007,718,000 after buying an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,381,126,000 after buying an additional 11,691,451 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in Bank of America by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 39,051,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,716,318,000 after purchasing an additional 9,258,040 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Hsbc Global Res cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price 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. Cowen began coverage on Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.3980 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $48.4780. 23,323,564 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 42,110,801. The company has a market capitalization of $359.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.31. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $49.31. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $46.81 and a 200 day moving average of $43.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Bank of America's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.41%.

Bank of America 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.