Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Up 1.6%

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shot up 1.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $41.28 and last traded at $41.28. 8,204,277 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 38,215,105 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BAC. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.41.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $326.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.52.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 33.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter worth $33,000. 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.