Bank of America CEO Needs to Do Less Talking: Analyst

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Bank of America(BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan is making the right strategic moves but needs to keep public speaking to a minimum, according to an analyst following the company.

"He has a tendency to draw a line in the sand on things that are out of his control and then they move against him," Sandler O'Neill analyst Jeff Harte told CNBC Wednesday morning. A bank spokesman declined to respond to Harte's remarks.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan

Bank of America shares are down nearly 50% this year as the bank has struggled mightily to contain its exposure to legal and market fallout from home loans made by its Countrywide Financial unit during the subprime housing boom.

While competitors such as JPMorgan Chase(JPM), Wells Fargo(WFC) and Citigroup(C) have had similar troubles, Bank of America is widely seen as having the largest exposure to a weak housing market by a wide margin.

Analysts following Bank of America have repeatedly pressed the bank to outline the extent of its exposure to housing issues, but new threats keep emerging. Whether these threats were entirely unknown to bank management or merely undisclosed is a matter of debate since one bombshell that knocked Bank of America shares for a 20% loss Aug. 8--a $10 billion lawsuit by AIG(AIG) was known to bank management for several months, Reuters reported.

Bank of America shares were rallying Wednesday along with the broader market following news of a shakeup in the top executive ranks of the bank that saw the ouster of wealth management head Sallie Krawcheck and consumer banking head Joe Price, while two other executives, Tom Montag and David Darnell, were named co-chief operating officers.

Montag, a plain-spoken former Goldman Sachs(GS) executive who spent several years in Japan, was Bank of America's biggest earner in 2009 and 2010. He had been running the bank's trading operations. Darnell, who has had responsibility for commercial banking, will shift his focus to retail and consumer businesses.

Analysts including Harte did not appear overly concerned about the shakeup. Harte retained his "buy" recommendation and $14 price target.

Wells Fargo analyst Matt Burnell called Darnell's appointment "higher risk," since he has limited experience in consumer and retail banking, though he saw a positive in the idea of "a fresh set of eyes." Burnell has a "market perform" on the stock.