Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 1.8% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price was up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wolfe Research upgraded the stock from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating. Wolfe Research now has a $42.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $35.91 and last traded at $35.87. Approximately 8,822,087 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 41,098,621 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.23.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Odeon Capital Group cut Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.53.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

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

Bank of America Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.68 and a 200-day moving average of $32.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

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.