South Plains Financial Inc. Invests $1.09 Million in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

South Plains Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 24,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,090,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA raised its position in Bank of America by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 20,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $879,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its position in Bank of America by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 8,291 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.25.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $39.88 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.15 and a 200-day moving average of $43.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $303.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $33.07 and a 1 year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

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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