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

Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.80.

Several research firms have commented on BANC. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup started coverage on Banc of California in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. Stephens raised 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banc of California

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANC. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the second quarter valued at approximately $549,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 13.6% in the second quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,986,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,384,000 after acquiring an additional 238,242 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 71.4% during the second quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 107,842 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 44,920 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings 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 worth $9,599,000 after purchasing an additional 535,654 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake 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 worth $3,573,000 after purchasing an additional 62,014 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of Banc of California stock opened at $15.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.61 and a beta of 1.14. Banc of California has a twelve month low of $11.88 and a twelve month high of $18.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.15 and its 200 day moving average is $14.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. Banc of California’s payout ratio is -9.37%.

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.