Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Increases Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 990,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,015 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $43,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 3,883.2% during the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 545,936 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 152.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE BAC opened at $42.27 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $34.15 and a one year high of $48.08. The firm has a market cap of $321.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.58.

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.