Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price

by · The Markets Daily

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target upped by Barclays from $54.00 to $59.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on BAC. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.18.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on BAC

Bank of America Stock Down 3.6%

NYSE:BAC opened at $50.38 on Thursday. Bank of America has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $52.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $50.00 and a 200 day moving average of $45.73. The firm has a market cap of $373.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Bank of America by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 246.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Steph & Co. raised its position in Bank of America by 224.3% during the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 585.4% during the 2nd quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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