Polymer Capital Management US LLC Makes New Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 17,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $756,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 28,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 3,945 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,085,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,514,000 after buying an additional 1,080,789 shares during the last quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 26,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 85,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in Bank of America by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 971,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,703,000 after purchasing an additional 371,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 7.7 %

BAC opened at $34.37 on Monday. The stock has a market cap 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 quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $32.70 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.94.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.31.

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.