Bank Of America Corp. $51 - New York symbol BAC

BANK OF AMERICA CORP. $51 (New York symbol BAC; Income Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 4.4 billion; Market cap: $224.4 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) has little exposure to subprime mortgages, but it aims to profit from the recent turmoil. It has agreed to buy $2 billion worth of convertible preferred shares from mortgage specialist Countrywide Financial Corp. (New York symbol CFC). If converted, Bank of America would own about 16% of Countrywide. This investment is roughly a third of the $5.8 billion or $1.29 a share Bank of America earned in its latest quarter. While it adds to its risk, it could have a big payoff. Rules that ban a single bank from controlling more than 10% of U.S. deposits have hurt Bank of America’s ability to expand. However, the Countrywide investment should improve its 7% share of the mortgage market. The stock trades at 10.4 times the $4.90 a share it should earn in 2007. It raised its dividend 14.3% to $2.56 a share (5.0% yield). Bank of America is a buy.

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