Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Upgraded by HSBC to “Buy” Rating

HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $50.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut Bank of America from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Bank of America from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.50.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $46.10 on Tuesday. Bank of America has a 1 year low of $31.27 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.09. The firm has a market cap of $353.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $73,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.