Bank of America (BAC) Competitors

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) are related large-cap companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings and media sentiment.

Is AAPL or BAC a better dividend stock?

Apple pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Bank of America pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Apple pays out 16.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank of America pays out 30.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Apple has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Bank of America has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years.

Which has more risk & volatility, AAPL or BAC?

Apple has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of America has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer AAPL or BAC?

In the previous week, Apple had 160 more articles in the media than Bank of America. MarketBeat recorded 258 mentions for Apple and 98 mentions for Bank of America. Bank of America's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat Apple's score of 0.96 indicating that Bank of America is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Apple	156 Very Positive mention(s)	24 Positive mention(s)	51 Neutral mention(s)	20 Negative mention(s)	5 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Bank of America	62 Very Positive mention(s)	14 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer AAPL or BAC?

Apple currently has a consensus price target of $234.94, suggesting a potential upside of 9.85%. Bank of America has a consensus price target of $50.03, suggesting a potential upside of 3.20%. Given Apple's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Apple is more favorable than Bank of America.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apple	2 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
Bank of America	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Which has better valuation & earnings, AAPL or BAC?

Apple has higher revenue and earnings than Bank of America. Bank of America is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Apple, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Apple	$391.04B	8.17	$93.74B	$6.42	33.31
Bank of America	$192.43B	1.90	$27.13B	$3.42	14.17

Is AAPL or BAC more profitable?

Apple has a net margin of 24.30% compared to Bank of America's net margin of 14.81%. Apple's return on equity of 167.24% beat Bank of America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apple	24.30%	167.24%	31.35%
Bank of America	14.81%	10.25%	0.84%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in AAPL or BAC?

67.7% of Apple shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.7% of Bank of America shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Apple shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Bank of America shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Apple beats Bank of America on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.