Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 49,000 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC cut its holdings in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 215,759 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 49,000 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.14% of Banc of California worth $3,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 62,014 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Banc of California by 461.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 651,695 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,599,000 after buying an additional 535,654 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 3.8% in the 3rd 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. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,223,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Banc of California by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 247,116 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,640,000 after acquiring an additional 63,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:BANC opened at $16.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.12. Banc of California, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.88 and a 52-week high of $18.08. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Banc of California’s payout ratio is currently 71.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BANC. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush raised 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. StockNews.com raised Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.20.

Banc of California 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.