Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Up 1% – Time to Buy?

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) shares rose 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $53.25 and last traded at $53.0050. Approximately 31,858,354 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 40,216,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.48.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Ameriprise Financial upgraded shares of Bank of America to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.77.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.63. 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 cap of $387.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 798,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,194,000 after buying an additional 6,548 shares during the period. Prana Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 3,000,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,809,000 after buying an additional 871,079 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the third quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 653,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,701,000 after buying an additional 7,457 shares during the period. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.8% during the third quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 37,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.