Homestead Advisers Corp Has $78.04 Million Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Homestead Advisers Corp boosted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,775,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 62,400 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up about 1.9% of Homestead Advisers Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $78,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,692,000 after purchasing an additional 569,385 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $606,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 18.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 10,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 1,583 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Bank of America by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 14,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 4,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth $73,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $42.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $325.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.86. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.15 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.45.

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.