Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Upgraded at Robert W. Baird

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Oct 18th, 2026

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $62.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Bank of America from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $70.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.52.

Get Our Latest Report on BAC

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $51.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.69. Bank of America has a 52-week low of $46.12 and a 52-week high of $65.22.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.02). Bank of America had a net margin of 16.80% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The business had revenue of $29.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America will post 4.54 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 30.40%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,571,060,000. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 42,385,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,066,274,000 after buying an additional 4,721,969 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth $2,359,172,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth $2,313,953,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,135,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,517,599,000 after acquiring an additional 561,413 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Bank of America

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and potential earnings recovery: Baird upgraded BAC to Outperform with a $62 price target, while other analysts maintained Buy or Outperform ratings despite reducing targets. Management also projected at least 8% net interest income growth in 2027, supported by loan and deposit expansion. Baird Upgrades Bank of America Stock Despite a Soft Quarter
Positive Sentiment: Regulatory remediation is progressing: Bank of America said it has completed substantial work required under a consent order, potentially helping reduce longer-term compliance uncertainty. The bank’s CEO also described the U.S. economy as resilient and growing. Bank of America says it has completed a lot of work on consent order
Neutral Sentiment: Preferred dividends declared: The board authorized regular cash dividends on multiple preferred-stock series, payable in November and December. The announcement supports the bank’s capital-distribution profile but does not represent a new increase in BAC common-stock dividends. Bank of America Declares Preferred Stock Dividends
Negative Sentiment: Q3 earnings missed expectations: BAC reported adjusted earnings of $1.08 per share versus a $1.10 consensus, while revenue also fell short. A $1.2 billion anti-money-laundering and sanctions penalty reduced earnings, and expenses grew faster than revenue; weaker fixed-income trading and settlement costs added pressure. Bank of America Stock Sell-Off Looks Like a Buying Opportunity
Negative Sentiment: Compliance and litigation overhang: Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized the penalty as insufficient, while several law firms announced investigations into potential securities claims and fiduciary-duty issues. These developments could increase legal costs and prolong reputational concerns. Rosen Law Firm Investigation

About Bank of America

(Get Free Report)

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides banking, lending, investment, payments and financial management services to consumers, businesses, institutional investors and governments.

The company’s consumer banking operations offer checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans and other consumer financial products. Through Merrill, Bank of America provides wealth management, investment advisory, brokerage and retirement services.