Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) to “Overweight”

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $20.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price target of $17.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on BANC. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Banc of California in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.10.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BANC opened at $15.80 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.23 and a 200-day moving average of $14.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of -3.70 and a beta of 1.14. 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 $11.88 and a 12 month high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.46 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Banc of California will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -9.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Banc of California during the 2nd quarter worth $549,000. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 71.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 107,842 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,378,000 after buying an additional 44,920 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 34.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 242,534 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,573,000 after acquiring an additional 62,014 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 461.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 651,695 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,599,000 after acquiring an additional 535,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,233,452 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,169,000 after acquiring an additional 44,951 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% 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.