Historically, tumultuous times offer some of the best opportunities to buy stocks, and the market's current mess surely qualifies. Speaking of messes: Some investors believe once-revered banking giant Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) has completed its turn in the grinder, and they see many reasons to consider buying shares today.
In our Motley Fool CAPS community, an impressive 8,610 investors have given a bullish or bearish opinion on the company. Poring through the detailed information packed in pitches and other comments, I've dug up three of the top reasons why many members consider the stock a buy today:
1. Renewed confidence: Bank of America has capitalized -- literally -- on renewed investor confidence lately to raise nearly $33 billion, within spitting distance of the $33.9 billion the government announced was needed with recent stress tests. Along with Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), SunTrust (NYSE: STI), Regions Financial (NYSE: RF), and others, B of A was identified as a "dead bank walking" that needed additional capital to protect it should the economy continue on its merry way south.
2. Increasing business: Despite the political theater surrounding B of A's recent past, some investors believe the Merrill Lynch, Countrywide, and other acquisitions will ultimately be beneficial for Bank of America. In fact, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) recently boosted its earnings estimate for B of A due to the potential increase in revenue from investment banking and wealth management. Investment banks like B of A, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) have seen a big surge in fees earned from an increase in follow-on share offerings recently.
3. Long-term potential: Investing in bank stocks still poses risk with many uncertainties, but some CAPS members see good long-term potential in Bank of America when the economy returns to a normal environment, particularly with the government keenly interested in its survival. The bank said that it expects to exceed the government's capital target with recently raised capital, which could be used to reduce its government reliance.
Of course, there's a lot more devil in the details of these buy-side opinions, which is why CAPS is such a great resource to balance your own analysis. You can read the bullish and bearish sides to every stock. To see what the very best CAPS members are saying now about Bank of America, just click on over to Motley Fool CAPS and have a look -- it's all free, and your opinion's welcome.
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