Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 280,214 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.18% of Banc of California worth $4,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BANC. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Banc of California by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,574 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Banc of California by 205.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,348 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Banc of California by 71.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,286 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 3,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter worth about $135,000. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens cut their price target on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.18.

Banc of California Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Banc of California stock opened at $14.55 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98 and a beta of 1.18. Banc of California, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.88 and a twelve month high of $18.08.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. Equities research analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.43%.

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.