Bank of America (BAC) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

Bank of America (BAC) closed the most recent trading day at $33.52, moving -0.46% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.32%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.38%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.4%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the nation's second-largest bank had gained 1.32% over the past month. This has outpaced the Finance sector's gain of 1.09% and lagged the S&P 500's gain of 2.51% in that time.

BAC will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, BAC is projected to report earnings of $0.69 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 1.43%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $22.22 billion, down 2.29% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $2.69 per share and revenue of $91.21 billion. These totals would mark changes of +3.07% and -0.04%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for BAC should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.34% higher. BAC currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note BAC's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 12.52. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.5, which means BAC is trading at a premium to the group.

Investors should also note that BAC has a PEG ratio of 1.39 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Banks - Major Regional stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.52 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Banks - Major Regional industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 102, which puts it in the top 40% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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