Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 1% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) rose 1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $58.01 and last traded at $57.97. Approximately 29,783,677 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 39,440,918 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.37.

Key Stories Impacting Bank of America

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America remains constructive on large-cap financials and highlighted resilience in the banking sector after major U.S. banks, including peers like JPMorgan, passed the Fed stress test again, reinforcing the case for dividends and buybacks across the group.
• Positive Sentiment: Citi reportedly raised its price target on Bank of America to $66 from $62 and kept a Buy rating ahead of second-quarter earnings, signaling continued confidence in BAC’s fundamentals and earnings power.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Bank of America’s upcoming second-quarter results to show double-digit bottom-line growth, which could support investor optimism if the company delivers on that outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America said its preferred equity team sees better value opportunities outside Series H, a comment that is more relevant to income investors in BAC’s capital stack than to the common stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank also disclosed small holdings updates in overseas companies and announced a cultural-program promotion for customers, but these items are unlikely to materially affect BAC’s stock near term.
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America cautioned that risks of a market correction are rising and urged investors to get defensive, which may temper sentiment if traders interpret the warning as a sign of greater macro volatility ahead.
• Negative Sentiment: Earlier rate commentary from BAC pointed to a more hawkish Fed outlook, which could pressure market sentiment broadly if higher-for-longer rates weigh on risk assets and deal activity.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Bank of America from $62.00 to $63.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $70.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.23.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $53.19 and a 200-day moving average of $52.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $412.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.37, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.11. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 16.78%.The firm had revenue of $30.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 27.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $6,719,335.56. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,373,397 shares in the company, valued at $72,803,774.97. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 182.3% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.