Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $50.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as low as $33.67 and last traded at $34.46, with a volume of 34012220 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.22.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on BAC. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $611,692,000 after buying an additional 569,385 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,090,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,268,000 after acquiring an additional 9,137 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the third quarter valued at $306,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Bank of America by 31,021.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,049,000 after purchasing an additional 10,175,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth about $101,507,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.88. The company has a market capitalization of $261.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

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.