Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Shares Purchased by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 60.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,132 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,826 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 668,077 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,328,000 after purchasing an additional 18,742 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Banc of California during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Banc of California by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 128,296 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 7,722 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Banc of California by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 77,975 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Banc of California by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,281,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,270,000 after acquiring an additional 221,125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BANC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.18.

Banc of California Stock Down 2.8 %

BANC stock opened at $14.26 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.44. Banc of California, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.88 and a 12 month high of $18.08. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.43%.

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.