Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Short Interest Update

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,740,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the August 31st total of 11,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $1,050,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 719,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,077,564. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Banc of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BANC. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 146.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,143 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Banc of California during the first quarter worth $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Banc of California during the first quarter valued at $30,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the 1st quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new position in Banc of California during the second quarter worth approximately $102,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BANC shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Banc of California from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Wedbush raised shares of Banc of California from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.50.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BANC traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $14.73. The stock had a trading volume of 2,216,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,345,085. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of -4.42 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.90. Banc of California has a twelve month low of $9.96 and a twelve month high of $15.54.

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

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -12.01%.

Banc of California Company 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.