Sheets Smith Investment Management Purchases New Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Sheets Smith Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 46,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,395,000. Bank of America makes up 1.6% of Sheets Smith Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 25,143 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 22,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth approximately $648,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 7.6% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.5% in the first quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 6,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Bank of America from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Global Securities increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.59.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $54.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.75. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $56.07. The firm has a market cap of $396.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 1.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.52%.

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.