Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Short Interest Update

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) saw a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 81,480,000 shares, an increase of 12.7% from the May 31st total of 72,310,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 36,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% during the first quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 108,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,115,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Round Hill Asset Management grew its holdings in Bank of America by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Round Hill Asset Management now owns 14,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 20,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Rossmore Private Capital increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 26,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chemistry Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 109,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,154,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Bank of America from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Friday, June 14th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.79.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BAC traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $39.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,180,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,800,750. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $312.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.12. Bank of America has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $40.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

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.