Bank of America’s (BAC) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $46.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

BAC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com lowered Bank of America from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Cfra restated a sell rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $41.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $328.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $44.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $3,601,000. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth $1,322,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Bank of America by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after buying an additional 20,916 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. raised its stake in Bank of America by 19.4% in the first quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 8,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $771,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.