Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.58.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $46.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $354.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America has a one year low of $34.03 and a one year high of $48.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.78 and a 200-day moving average of $43.59.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,243,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,229 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% in the fourth 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 bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of 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 worth $3,876,853,000 after buying an additional 17,031,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of 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 worth $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. 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.