Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.30.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upgraded Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $18.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Transactions at Banc of California

In related news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $1,050,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 719,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,077,564. This trade represents a 9.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 7.37% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banc of California

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 17.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,597,751 shares of the bank’s stock worth $161,192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,941 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,222,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,182,000 after purchasing an additional 663,061 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Banc of California by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,476,387 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,839 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,060,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,348,000 after buying an additional 74,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 589.8% in the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,732,894 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,526,000 after buying an additional 1,481,692 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:BANC opened at $17.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Banc of California has a 12-month low of $11.36 and a 12-month high of $18.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of -4.04 and a beta of 1.13.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.11. Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.93% and a negative net margin of 20.75%. The business had revenue of $431.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Banc of California will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.37%.

Banc of California Company Profile

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.