Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $46.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Cfra reaffirmed a sell rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an outperform rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $41.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.25. Bank of America has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The company has a market capitalization of $325.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 36.62%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 160,921,082 shares of company stock worth $6,582,343,525. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter worth $30,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.