Ken Leon, director of equity research at CFRA, told Squawk Box that the outlook for large U.S. banks, including Bank of America, is ‘‘very positive’’ heading into the first quarter earnings season. He highlighted expectations for net interest income growth of 6–8% year-over-year, driven by a high interest rate environment, and projected a return on tangible common equity above 12% for the industry. Leon noted that capital markets franchises are poised to benefit from rising underwriting fees and advisory activity, forecasting a 5% increase in debt and equity underwriting revenues for the quarter.

In its most recent SEC filing, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. reported a 6.5% increase in its stake in Bank of America during the third quarter, purchasing 31,008 additional shares to hold 509,036 shares valued at $26.26 million at period end. Norges Bank initiated a position worth $5.09 billion in the second quarter, while Arrowstreet Capital more than doubled its holding to 17.62 million shares after adding 9.78 million shares valued at $833.77 million. OMERS Administration expanded its position by 881.5% to 4.21 million shares, and ABN AMRO Bank and Kingstone Capital Partners Texas also established new positions of $202.44 million and $164.62 million respectively. Overall, institutional investors and hedge funds now control over 70.7% of Bank of America’s shares.

Bank of America reported third-quarter earnings per share of $1.06, surpassing consensus estimates by $0.13, on revenue of $27.05 billion, up 10.8% year-over-year. The bank achieved a net margin of 15.7% and a return on equity of 10.76%. During the quarter, noninterest income rose 4% driven by wealth management fees. On December 26, shareholders received a quarterly dividend of $0.28, representing an annualized payout of $1.12 and a yield of 2.0%. The dividend payout ratio stands at 30.5%, reflecting management’s commitment to returning capital to investors while supporting balance sheet strength.

A swath of analysts have raised targets and ratings for Bank of America in recent months. Argus lifted its target to $58.00, Ameriprise Financial upgraded the bank to a buy rating, and Wells Fargo raised its target to $62.00 with an overweight recommendation. Phillip Securities also increased its target to $56.00. According to MarketBeat data, 23 analysts rate the stock a buy and five rate it a hold, resulting in a consensus ‘‘Moderate Buy’’ rating with an average target of $58.59, underscoring broad confidence in the bank’s earnings growth trajectory and capital return potential.