Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Boosts Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 44.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,309,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 404,154 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up approximately 1.0% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $61,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 5,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 0.8% during the second quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 28,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% in the second quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. 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 research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Ameriprise Financial raised Bank of America to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.86.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $52.57 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.63 and its 200 day moving average is $48.05. Bank of America Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $54.69. The company has a market capitalization of $383.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.52%.

Bank of America 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.