Bank of America Gets Lift From Paulson

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (TheStreet) -- Bank of America (BAC) shares rose Wednesday following a report that noted hedge fund investor John Paulson has said he expects the stock to nearly double over the next two years.

Paulson, who made a name for himself by winning a big bet against the U.S. housing market, told his investors that BofA's stock has "considerable upside," according to a report from Bloomberg News, which cited a letter the fund manager sent to clients.

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BofA shares were up nearly 3% to $16.20 in midday trading. Volume of 124.4 million compared to the issue's three-month daily average of 195 million. Based on Tuesday's close at $15.77, the stock was down almost 13% since its finish at $18.10 on Oct. 15, the day before it released its third-quarter results. November, however, has been a largely positive month for the stock, which has closed at $14.63 on Nov. 2.

According to Thomson Reuters data, the current mean 12-month price target for analysts covering BofA is $20.55 with the range running from a high of $30 to a low of $12. Of the 25 analysts publishing ratings for BofA, the majority are bullish (9 at strong buy and 8 at buy).

As for the other big banks, Wells Fargo (WFC) was up 1.4% and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) shares ticked less than 1% higher in recent action. Shares of Bank of New York Mellon (BK) and U.S. Bancorp(USB) were both down midday Wednesday.

Bloomberg reported Friday that Paulson had upped his stake in Citigroup (C) while selling shares ofGoldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan.

As they digest the Paulson news, BofA investors are eagerly awaiting a decision on who the bank's board will select to replace beleaguered chief Ken Lewis, who has said he will step down at the end of the year. BofA, which has postponed the decision a couple of times, is now hoping to make an announcement by Thanksgiving.

-- Written by Dan Freed in New York.

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