What to Expect When Bank of America Reports Wednesday

Banking, finance, and taxes

Published: January 16, 2018 1:20 pm

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 4:26 am

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is scheduled to release its most recent quarterly results before the markets open on Wednesday. The consensus estimates are $0.44 in earnings per share (EPS) and $21.53 billion in revenue. The fourth-quarter of last year had $0.40 in EPS and $20.22 billion in revenue.

This bank is considered a winner from the new tax reform law. Although we’ve seen a few of the other major banks take a big one-time loss, this does set them up for smooth earnings growth in the future.

Back in the first week of December, Bank of America announced that it has set its goal for stock buybacks at up to an additional $5 billion. What stands out here is that the repurchases were set to be completed by June 30, 2018. Bank of America currently has a $327 billion market cap.

In its most recent quarterly report, Bank of America noted a book value per share of $23.92 and tangible book value per share of $17.23.

Currently, this stock trades at a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 18, which is more or less in line with the broad markets. However, looking ahead, the stock trades at just over 13 times its projected earnings from next year, which is very cheap considering the markets are at all-time highs.

While we are only a couple of weeks into 2018, Bank of America is up over 5% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is up 36%.

ALSO READ: Did GE’s Dividend and Conglomerate Structure Just Become More At Risk?

Ahead of the earnings report, a few analysts weighed in on the stock:

Societe Generale has a Hold rating.
BMO Capital Markets has a Hold rating with a $31 price target.
Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating and a $35 price target.
Barclays has an Equal Weight rating with a $35 price target.
Wells Fargo has a Buy rating with a $35 target price.
Instinet has a $30 price target.

Shares of Bank of America traded at $31.36 on Tuesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $32.28 and a 52-week range of $22.01 to $31.79.

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