Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.15.

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Bank of America from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. ValuEngine raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James lowered Bank of America from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Bank of America from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $36.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th.

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In related news, insider Kathleen A. Knox sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.23, for a total transaction of $1,209,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,322,381.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frank P. Bramble sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.33, for a total value of $203,645.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,566,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 195.6% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 120.6% during the 2nd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, WealthStone Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

BAC stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.32. 19,503,395 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,408,504. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.35. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $22.66 and a 12 month high of $33.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.62.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.07. Bank of America had a return on equity of 12.05% and a net margin of 24.16%. The company had revenue of $22.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.59%.

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 through four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.

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