Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 1.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares traded up 1.8% during trading on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $37.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $35.91 and last traded at $35.87. 8,822,087 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 41,098,621 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.23.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BAC. Odeon Capital Group lowered shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.29.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roundview Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 135,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,013 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Bank of America by 150.3% in the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 405,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,698,000 after buying an additional 16,319 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $586,000. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at $534,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $35.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.24. The stock has a market cap of $282.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.39.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.