Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Up 1.3% After Dividend Announcement

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)'s share price shot up 1.3% on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $39.28 and last traded at $39.24. 14,988,095 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 39,003,622 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.75.The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Cfra Research raised their price target on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target 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. Finally, Baird R W raised Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.43.

Bank of America Price Performance

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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.56. The company has a market capitalization of $298.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Bank of America by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,747,658,000 after purchasing an additional 10,231,001 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Bank of America by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after purchasing an additional 9,980,859 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Company Profile

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.

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