Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Down 0.2%

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) dropped 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $36.81 and last traded at $36.86. Approximately 6,642,834 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 40,604,660 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wolfe Research raised Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.70.

Bank of America Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $290.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.98.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Vicus Capital raised its position in Bank of America by 13.8% during the third quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 11,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 23,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 152.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 133,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,644,000 after buying an additional 80,275 shares during the last quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 6.8% during the third quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC now owns 44,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,220,000 after buying an additional 2,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 33.3% in the third quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 4,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. 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.