Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Increases Stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in Bank of America Corporation by 26.9% during the first quarter, now holding over 1.8 million shares valued at approximately $76.87 million.
• Bank of America recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, up from the previous $0.26, resulting in an annual yield of 2.31%.
• The company has also authorized a $40 billion share buyback program, indicating management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 26.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,838,456 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 390,212 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings in Bank of America were worth $76,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 797 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. 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 research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.03.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $48.18. The company had a trading volume of 9,363,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,123,070. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $49.31. The company has a market capitalization of $362.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $45.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.72.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The company 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is 32.75%.

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.