Barclays Cuts Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Price Target to $19.00

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on BANC. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Stephens increased 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 note on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush upped their target price on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Banc of California currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.10.

Banc of California Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:BANC opened at $16.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.75 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 has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.06.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a negative net margin of 20.75% and a positive return on equity of 2.93%. Analysts anticipate that Banc of California will post 0.71 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.37%.

Institutional Trading of Banc of California

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BANC. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in Banc of California by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,476,387 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,839 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Banc of California by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,281,410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,270,000 after buying an additional 221,125 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in Banc of California by 589.8% in the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,732,894 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,526,000 after buying an additional 1,481,692 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Banc of California in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $21,207,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Banc of California by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,233,452 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,169,000 after buying an additional 44,951 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

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.