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

Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a 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 $56.7619.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BAC. Wall Street Zen cut Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Hsbc Global Res cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.7%

BAC opened at $51.28 on Monday. Bank of America has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.88. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $50.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.79. The company has a market capitalization of $379.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $28.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 246.5% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 224.3% during the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 585.4% during the 2nd quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.