Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Receives $47.50 Average Target Price from Analysts

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.50.

A number of brokerages have commented on BAC. Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $44.62 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.59. The company has a market cap of $336.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. Bank of America has a 52-week low of $33.07 and a 52-week high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.95%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after acquiring an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,747,658,000 after acquiring an additional 10,231,001 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.