Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Upgrades Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to Outperform

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $46.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $37.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 17.23% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.79.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $39.24 on Friday. Bank of America has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $40.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $306.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.47.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.