Dow Today: Bank Of America Corporation (BAC) Leads The Day Higher, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) Lags

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) is trading down 17.0 points (-0.1%) at 13,177 as of Thursday, Mar 15, 2012, 9:35 a.m. ET. During this time, 44.4 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 818.6 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 956 issues advancing vs. 1,703 declining with 162 unchanged.

The Dow component leading the way higher looks to be Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), which is sporting a seven-cent gain (+0.8%) bringing the stock to $8.91. Volume for Bank of America Corporation currently sits at 27.5 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 271.9 million shares.

Bank of America Corporation has a market cap of $73.89 billion and is part of the financial sector and banking industry. Shares are up 59% year to date as of Wednesday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 0.5%.

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides various banking and financial products and services to individual consumers, small-and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, corporations, and governments in the United States and internationally. The company has a P/E ratio of 26.5, below the average banking industry P/E ratio of 729 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Bank of America Corporation as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, impressive record of earnings per share growth and compelling growth in net income. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including generally poor debt management and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.

• You can view the full Bank of America Ratings Report.

Holding back the Dow today is JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), which is lagging the broader Dow index with a 31-cent decline (-0.7%) bringing the stock to $43.27. This single loss is lowering the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 2.35 points or roughly accounting for 13.8% of the Dow's overall loss. Volume for JPMorgan Chase currently sits at 2.2 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 39.3 million shares.

• See our dividend calendar or top-yielding stocks list.

JPMorgan Chase has a market cap of $143.1 billion and is part of the financial sector and banking industry. Shares are up 30.5% year to date as of Wednesday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 2.3%.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., a financial holding company, provides various financial services worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 9.6, above the average banking industry P/E ratio of 8.4 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates JPMorgan Chase as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its expanding profit margins, good cash flow from operations and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

• You can view the full JPMorgan Chase Ratings Report.

For more information on Bank of America Corporation click any of the following:

• Bank of America Corporation Stock Price

• Bank of America Corporation Analyst Ratings

• Bank of America Corporation Key Stats & Profile

• Bank of America Corporation Earnings

• Bank of America Corporation Ratio Comparison

• Bank of America Corporation Growth Rates

• Bank of America Corporation Balance Sheet

• Bank of America Corporation Cash Flow

• Bank of America Corporation Income Statement