Mechanics Financial Corp Has $826,000 Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Mechanics Financial Corp decreased its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,319 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Bank of America by 45.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,007,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1,642.5% in the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,057,000 after purchasing an additional 3,954,250 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth $164,623,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter worth $152,098,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP boosted its stake in Bank of America by 958.9% in the first quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,344,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,560,000 after purchasing an additional 3,028,530 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $50.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.19. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $52.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $373.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 32.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BAC. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. HSBC boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.88.

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.