Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Upgraded by Wolfe Research to “Outperform”

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $42.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on BAC. Odeon Capital Group downgraded Bank of America from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $33.90 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $38.53.

Bank of America Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $37.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $297.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.77 and a 200-day moving average of $32.48. Bank of America has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $38.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. Analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its stake in Bank of America by 98.1% during the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. 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.