Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Raised to Outperform at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $42.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on BAC. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday. Erste Group Bank raised Bank of America from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $38.53.

Bank of America Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $36.97 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.40. The firm has a market cap of $291.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.39. Bank of America has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $38.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its holdings in Bank of America by 98.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.