Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 0.9% on Analyst Upgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) was up 0.9% during trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $39.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $37.52 and last traded at $37.46. Approximately 8,312,794 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 40,177,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.11.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on BAC. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Odeon Capital Group lowered Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.03.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter worth about $28,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.26 and a 200-day moving average of $31.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $297.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.39.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.27%.

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.