Hsbc Global Res Upgrades Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to Strong-Buy

Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.50.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $46.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $354.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $31.27 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.38 and its 200 day moving average is $42.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $1,668,000. Lansing Street Advisors raised its position in Bank of America by 2.0% during the second quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 23,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $917,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 11.4% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 562,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,361,000 after acquiring an additional 57,426 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 31,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. 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.