Citigroup Initiates Coverage on Banc of California (NYSE:BANC)

Analysts at Citigroup began coverage on shares of Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 6.61% from the company’s previous close.

BANC has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wedbush upgraded Banc of California from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Banc of California from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banc of California has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.45.

Banc of California Price Performance

BANC stock opened at $14.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.23 and a beta of 1.14. Banc of California has a 52-week low of $9.96 and a 52-week high of $15.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.09). Banc of California had a negative net margin of 21.99% and a positive return on equity of 2.12%. The company had revenue of $492.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $271.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Banc of California will post 0.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,077,564. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 32.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Banc of California by 4.3% during the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 23,876 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Banc of California by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 69,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 146.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,143 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.