Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Receives $48.58 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.58.

Several analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $47.43 on Wednesday. Bank of America has a 52 week low of $32.35 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $363.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.77 and a 200-day moving average of $42.92.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given 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 2.19%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Bank of America by 6.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,375,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,569,000 after buying an additional 78,376 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 19,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858 shares in the last quarter. Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,880,000. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 9,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Bank of America by 16.8% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 8,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently 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.