Picton Mahoney Asset Management Grows Stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in Bank of America by 23.5% during the first quarter, acquiring a total of 586,622 shares valued at approximately $24.48 million.
• Bank of America announced a stock buyback plan of up to $40 billion, indicating that its board believes the company’s stock is currently undervalued.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend increase to $1.12, with a dividend yield of 2.32%.

Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 23.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 586,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 111,530 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management's holdings in Bank of America were worth $24,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 797 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $48.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $363.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $49.31. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $45.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Argus reduced their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.03.

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.

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