Bank of America (BAC) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

Bank of America (BAC) closed at $27.93 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.39% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.09%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.09%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.62%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the nation's second-largest bank had lost 1.92% over the past month. This has lagged the Finance sector's gain of 1.07% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.08% in that time.

BAC will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.72, up 14.29% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $23.22 billion, up 2.68% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $2.85 per share and revenue of $92.59 billion. These totals would mark changes of +9.2% and +1.47%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for BAC. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.04% lower. BAC is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note BAC's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 9.82. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 10.99, which means BAC is trading at a discount to the group.

We can also see that BAC currently has a PEG ratio of 1.09. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Banks - Major Regional industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.33 as of yesterday's close.

The Banks - Major Regional industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99, which puts it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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