Short Interest in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Grows By 6.3%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 72,080,000 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the March 15th total of 67,790,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 40,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 4,187 shares during the period. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Bank of America by 354.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 119,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 93,375 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 228.3% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,273,000 after acquiring an additional 46,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $673,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE BAC traded down $1.34 on Tuesday, hitting $34.61. The company had a trading volume of 45,557,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,459,594. Bank of America has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $38.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $273.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.39.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.29.

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.