Curbstone Financial Management Corp Boosts Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 15.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,808 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% during the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $28,000. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 585.4% in the second quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Acima Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:BAC opened at $51.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $379.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $50.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.79. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $52.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.76.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.