Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 0.8%

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) were up 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $38.09 and last traded at $38.01. Approximately 5,968,718 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 40,121,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on BAC shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.70.

Bank of America Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.34. The company has a market capitalization of $299.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gratus Capital LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 20.5% in the third quarter. Gratus Capital LLC now owns 16,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,846 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 6.2% in the third quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 7,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association bought a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $16,095,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 7.1% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 7,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dubuque Bank & Trust Co grew its position in Bank of America by 4.9% in the third quarter. Dubuque Bank & Trust Co now owns 17,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.