Dow Today: Kraft Foods (KFT) Leads The Day Higher, Bank Of America Corporation (BAC) Lags

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) is trading down 82.0 points (-0.6%) at 13,124 as of Friday, May 4, 2012, 9:35 a.m. ET. During this time, 25 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 735.7 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 604 issues advancing vs. 2,064 declining with 141 unchanged.

The Dow component leading the way higher looks to be Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT), which is sporting a 17-cent gain (+0.4%) bringing the stock to $39.76. Volume for Kraft Foods currently sits at 582,519 shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 8.4 million shares.

Kraft Foods has a market cap of $70.35 billion and is part of the consumer goods sector and food & beverage industry. Shares are up 6.3% year to date as of Thursday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 2.9%.

Kraft Foods Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets packaged food products worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 19.9, equal to the average food & beverage industry P/E ratio and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Kraft Foods as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, increase in net income and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally poor debt management on most measures that we evaluated.

• You can view the full Kraft Ratings Report.

Holding back the Dow today is Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), which is lagging the broader Dow index with a 12-cent decline (-1.6%) bringing the stock to $7.88. This single loss is lowering the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 0.91 points or roughly accounting for 1.1% of the Dow's overall loss. Volume for Bank of America Corporation currently sits at 11.4 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 270.5 million shares.

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

Bank of America Corporation has a market cap of $87.9 billion and is part of the financial sector and banking industry. Shares are up 43.9% year to date as of Thursday'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.

TheStreet Ratings rates Bank of America Corporation as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its expanding profit margins and notable return on equity. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including unimpressive growth in net income, generally poor debt management and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.

• You can view the full Bank of America 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