Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 1.5% Higher

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) traded up 1.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $38.30 and last traded at $38.29. 10,051,375 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 41,378,871 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.53.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $302.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.61.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. Bank of America’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 8.2% during the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after buying an additional 4,187 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% during the third quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 228.3% during the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,273,000 after buying an additional 46,950 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $673,000. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 978,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,799,000 after buying an additional 225,767 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Bank of America

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.