Brokerages Set Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) PT at $48.58

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.58.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $46.80 on Wednesday. Bank of America has a 52-week low of $32.35 and a 52-week 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $45.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.96. The stock has a market cap of $359.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 765,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares during the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 100,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 6,314 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 191.6% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 22,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 14,623 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 37,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,632,000 after buying an additional 2,190 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.