Ascent Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ascent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,042,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $279,441,000 after purchasing an additional 50,849 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $611,692,000 after purchasing an additional 569,385 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 249,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,909,000 after purchasing an additional 23,617 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 5,393,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,016,000 after buying an additional 165,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 1.1% in the third quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,192,000 after buying an additional 593 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

Bank of America Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of BAC opened at $40.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $34.15 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $45.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.74.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 32.30%.

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.