Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Estimates

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81, RTT News reports. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $41.91 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $39.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.30. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The firm has a market cap of $327.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 160,921,082 shares of company stock valued at $6,582,343,525 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.27.

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

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.