Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares hit a new 52-week low during 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.22.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on BAC. Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Bank of America by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 92,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,876,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 6.5% during the first quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 128,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after buying an additional 7,819 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 46.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 18,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $761,000 after buying an additional 5,807 shares during the period. Hobart Private Capital LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Bank of America by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 704,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,379,000 after acquiring an additional 10,205 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 7.7 %

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

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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