5 Best Income Stocks to Buy According to Analysts

3. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Upside Potential as of May 1: 24.1%
Average Price Target Based on Analyst Ratings: $36.3

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is an American financial services company. In April, RBC Capital raised its price target on the stock to $35 with an Outperform rating on the shares, appreciating the company’s diversified business model. The firm also highlighted the company’s interest-sensitive balance sheet.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), one of the best dividend stocks, has been growing its dividends consistently for the past nine years. It currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.01%, as of May 1.

At the end of Q4 2022, Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) was a part of 100 hedge fund portfolios, as per Insider Monkey’s data. The stakes owned by these hedge funds have a total value of $37.5 billion.

Oakmark Funds mentioned Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) in its Q1 2023 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“The Oakmark Equity and Income Fund has 29% of its equity portfolio in financials. This made the March sell-off painful, but we do not believe that this has meaningfully changed the value of most of our financial equity holdings. In fact, we were adding to financial positions throughout March. We believe that one way to analyze our financial holdings is to look at them in different buckets given their various business models and risk profiles. Almost 30% of our financial exposure is in insurance companies and insurance brokers. Insurance companies have very stable liability profiles, so the main risk is a change in asset values. We are comfortable with their investment portfolios and think these stocks are quite attractive. Around 5% of our financials are asset managers. This leaves a little over 40% of the financials exposure in a varied group of banks and lenders. About 5% of that portfolio is in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) and State Street. These two banks are designated as Systematically Important Financial Institutions and are held to higher regulatory standards. Our largest single financials holding is Bank of America, which has grown deposits during March, and we believe it is one of the best managed companies in the sector.”