Bank of America shares rebound on Friday, bank names Sanaz Zaimi as head of new unit, BofA Securities Europe

Sanaz Zaimi has been appointed as head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s new EU broker-dealer unit, BofA Securities Europe, based in Paris, the Wall Street bank said on Friday. The announcement comes at a time, when major banks seek to continue providing services to customers in Europe after Britain parts ways with the European Union on March 29th.

Bank of America shares closed higher for the second time in the past nine trading sessions in New York on Friday. The stock edged up 0.18% ($0.05) to $28.29, after touching an intraday low at $27.86, or a price level not seen since January 16th ($27.86).

Shares of Bank of America Corporation have risen 14.81% so far in 2019 compared with an 8.02% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Bank of America’s stock went down 16.53%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

According to a Bank of America memo to employees, Sanaz Zaimi will also keep her responsibilities as head of Global Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities Sales as well as France country executive.

The bank also said that Shannon Lilly would change location from Charlotte, North Carolina to Paris and would be appointed as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of BofA Securities Europe.

“We began the relocation of roles to our new Paris office this week. This is a critical milestone in the development of our EU business and our Brexit preparations,” Tom Montag, Bank of Americas Chief Operating Officer, said in the memo, cited by Reuters.

According to CNN Money, the 27 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Bank of America’s stock price, have a median target of $33.00, with a high estimate of $38.00 and a low estimate of $27.00. The median estimate represents a 16.65% upside compared to the closing price of $28.29 on February 8th.

The same media also reported that 16 out of 30 surveyed investment analysts had rated Bank of America’s stock as “Buy”, while 9 – as “Hold”.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Bank of America Corporation (BAC) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $28.37
R1 – $28.89
R2 – $29.48
R3 – $30.00
R4 – $30.51

S1 – $27.78
S2 – $27.26
S3 – $26.67
S4 – $26.07