HTLF Bank Takes Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

HTLF Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 16,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $569,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 4,187 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 354.5% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 119,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,278,000 after buying an additional 93,375 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 3.7% in the third quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 228.3% in the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,273,000 after buying an additional 46,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $673,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised 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 note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.53.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $36.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $291.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.31. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $38.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.