Zacks Research Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research lifted their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Bank of America in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, May 7th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the financial services provider will earn $0.79 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.77. The consensus estimate for Bank of America’s current full-year earnings is $3.21 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Bank of America’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.77 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.86 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $0.89 EPS.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.70.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.5 %

BAC stock opened at $38.29 on Thursday. Bank of America has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $38.49. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.34. 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 capitalization of $299.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $3,734,407,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Bank of America by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Bank of America by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,648,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,852,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397,469 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,833,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,408,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,056 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 97.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,130,538,000 after purchasing an additional 20,362,295 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

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.