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

Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.30.

A number of research firms have recently commented on BANC. Stephens raised 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity at Banc of California

In other Banc of California news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $1,050,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 719,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,077,564. This trade represents a 9.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 4.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California in the third quarter worth $167,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 15.4% in the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 61,975 shares of the bank’s stock worth $913,000 after buying an additional 8,250 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 4.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 425,634 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,270,000 after buying an additional 17,876 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 3.7% in the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,060,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,348,000 after buying an additional 74,039 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BANC opened at $17.77 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of -4.16 and a beta of 1.13. Banc of California has a twelve month low of $11.36 and a twelve month high of $18.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.18.

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

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.37%.

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.