Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at TD Cowen

TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $53.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on BAC. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock opened at $44.66 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.55. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $33.07 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $336.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.83 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,007,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position 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. 70.71% of the stock is 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.