Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Upgraded by Wolfe Research to “Outperform”

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $42.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

BAC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. HSBC reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $39.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Odeon Capital Group downgraded shares of Bank of America from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $33.90 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $38.53.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $36.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $291.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.31. Bank of America has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $38.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rossmore Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 26,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 39,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 109,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,154,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 58,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.