Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.70.

Several research firms have weighed in on BAC. Odeon Capital Group cut Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $37.25 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.16. Bank of America has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $38.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $291.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its holdings in Bank of America by 98.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.