Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Up 1% – Time to Buy?

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)’s share price shot up 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $53.25 and last traded at $53.0050. 31,858,354 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 40,216,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets increased their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $57.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.77.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.63. 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 company has a market capitalization of $387.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 75.2% during the 2nd 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. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 246.5% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the third quarter worth $27,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Steph & Co. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 224.3% during the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.