Squarepoint Ops LLC Lowers Position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lessened its stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 349,443 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 95,141 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Banc of California worth $4,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Banc of California by 17.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,597,751 shares of the bank’s stock worth $161,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,941 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Banc of California in the fourth quarter worth $3,374,000. Carmignac Gestion bought a new stake in Banc of California in the fourth quarter worth $2,152,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Banc of California by 86.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 506,202 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,699,000 after purchasing an additional 234,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Banc of California by 55.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 185,329 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 66,183 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Banc of California from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Banc of California from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.50.

Banc of California Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE BANC opened at $14.73 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of -4.42 and a beta of 1.13. Banc of California, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.96 and a 12 month high of $15.54.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.09). Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.12% and a negative net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $492.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $271.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is currently -12.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total value of $1,050,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 719,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,077,564. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 7.37% of the company’s stock.

About Banc of California

Banc of California, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Banc of California that provides various banking products and services in California. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, demand, and time deposits; certificates of deposit; retirement accounts; and safe deposit boxes.