Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation and four have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.43.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Bank of America from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded up $0.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $39.16. The company had a trading volume of 13,068,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,999,714. 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 52 week low of $33.07 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The stock has a market cap of $297.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50 day moving average price is $40.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.56.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. Analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,243,000,000 after buying an additional 2,033,229 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after buying an additional 17,031,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Bank of America by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,985,785,000 after purchasing an additional 9,980,859 shares during the period. 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.