Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.58.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $46.80 on Wednesday. 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 has a one year low of $32.35 and a one year high of $48.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $359.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc raised its stake in Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 545,936 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. 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.