Robert W. Baird Issues Positive Forecast for Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price objective upped by Robert W. Baird from $52.00 to $56.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,MarketScreener reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Global Securities raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup raised 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. Phillip Securities raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 17th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.45.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.8%

BAC opened at $52.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.84. Bank of America has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $53.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $392.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The business had revenue of $28.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Boston Common Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 10.5% in the second quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 259,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,288,000 after acquiring an additional 24,740 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $217,000. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its position in Bank of America by 121.0% in the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 33,963 shares during the last quarter. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 7.3% in the second quarter. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC now owns 6,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CCG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter valued at about $287,000. 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.