Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Truist Financial

Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $52.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $46.21 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $45.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.15. Bank of America has a fifty-two week low of $31.27 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08. The firm has a market cap of $354.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $405,049,000 after acquiring an additional 10,175,100 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749,567 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015,378 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3,550.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,804,560,000 after buying an additional 4,423,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $174,858,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.