Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.7727.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Global Securities increased their price target on Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock opened at $53.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $388.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $54.69. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 30.52%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Riverview Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Riverview Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% in the third quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 60,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,110,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% during the third quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 14,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during the third quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 13,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Motive Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3.6% during the third quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 5,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.