Voya Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 338.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,298 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 128,387 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Banc of California worth $2,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BANC. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California during the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,400,000. FJ Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Banc of California by 265.8% during the second quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,365,440 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,184,000 after purchasing an additional 992,154 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,410,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,024,000 after purchasing an additional 957,693 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 22,771.4% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 817,424 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,599,000 after buying an additional 813,850 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,575,000 after buying an additional 757,677 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Price Performance

BANC opened at $19.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $18.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.46. Banc of California, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.52 and a 12-month high of $20.17. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $315.66 million for the quarter. Banc of California had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 8.00%. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BANC. Citigroup upgraded Banc of California from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $21.50 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Banc of California from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. Raymond James Financial raised Banc of California from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.95.

Banc of California Profile

Banc of California, N.A. is a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Santa Ana, California, offering a broad spectrum of banking products and services to corporate and individual customers. The bank focuses on serving middle-market businesses, professional service firms, real estate investors and developers, and entrepreneurs throughout California. Its core offerings include deposit accounts, treasury management services, commercial real estate lending, equipment finance, lines of credit and Small Business Administration lending, complemented by cash management and online banking solutions.

Operating a network of branches and lending offices concentrated in both Southern and Northern California, Banc of California seeks to support local businesses and communities with personalized service and regional expertise.