Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 1.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) was up 1.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $62.76 and last traded at $62.3550. 26,635,741 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 37,301,051 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Bank of America from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Bank of America from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.08.

Bank of America Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $436.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.67.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $31.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.78 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 17.56%.Bank of America’s revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 25.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.