Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires 260 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 89,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $611,692,000 after buying an additional 569,385 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter valued at $306,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth about $645,000. Finally, Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $488,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $39.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $300.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.07 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.43.

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.