Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Upgraded at Robert W. Baird

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $62.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target points to a potential upside of 20.05% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BAC. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $72.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, HSBC began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Monday, September 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.52.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $51.65. The company had a trading volume of 45,881,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,639,586. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $361.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. Bank of America has a 12-month low of $46.12 and a 12-month high of $65.22.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $29.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.58 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 17.56% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. Research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 4.60 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% during the second quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% during the second quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC now owns 35,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% during the second quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 4,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% during the second quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 16,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GatePass Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% during the first quarter. GatePass Capital LLC now owns 5,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Bank of America News

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Net interest income increased 8% year over year to approximately $16.4 billion, while average loans rose 6% and deposits grew 2%. Management also targeted at least 8% net-interest-income growth in 2027, supported by loan and deposit expansion. BAC Q3 Earnings Call Highlights NII Growth and Trading Pressure
• Positive Sentiment: Consumer banking and wealth management remained areas of strength, with Merrill’s fee-based advisory assets reaching a record $1.9 trillion. Bank of America also returned $8.3 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Merrill Lynch’s Fee-Based Advisory Assets Just Hit a Record $1.9 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: Despite lower targets, several analysts retained favorable views. Baird upgraded BAC to “outperform,” while Citigroup, Truist and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods maintained buy or outperform ratings. The revised targets remain above the current share price.
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America said it has added roughly 1,000 contractors alongside 3,000 employees to address software vulnerabilities identified by advanced AI tools. The spending pressures near-term expenses but could reduce technology and operational risk over time. Bank of America hired 1,000 contractors to patch software flaws exposed by Anthropic’s Mythos
• Negative Sentiment: Regulators imposed more than $1.2 billion in penalties for failures involving anti-money-laundering, Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions compliance, including the failure to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions. The charge reduced reported third-quarter EPS and raised concerns about management’s controls and potential remediation costs. Bank of America profit hurt by $1.2 billion fine over anti-money laundering shortcomings
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.08 and revenue of roughly $30.0 billion missed consensus estimates. Fixed-income trading revenue fell 17%, investment-banking activity weakened, expenses grew faster than revenue, and credit-loss provisions reached approximately $1.3 billion. Analysts subsequently lowered price targets, including Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen, Piper Sandler and Citigroup.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced investigations into potential securities-law violations or breaches of fiduciary duty following the penalty and earnings miss. These notices do not establish liability but add reputational and potential litigation risk for BAC investors.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is a diversified financial services company serving individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its principal businesses include consumer banking, wealth and investment management, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and sales and trading.

Through its banking and financial services businesses, the company offers deposit accounts, credit cards, mortgages, home equity products, consumer and business loans, payment services, treasury management, brokerage services and investment advice.