Analysts Set Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) PT at $17.73

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.25.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Monday.

Banc of California Price Performance

BANC stock opened at $13.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.65 and a 200-day moving average of $15.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20 and a beta of 0.85. Banc of California has a 12 month low of $11.52 and a 12 month high of $18.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.36 million. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Banc of California will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Banc of California’s payout ratio is 61.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Banc of California news, Director James Andrew Barker bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 169,680 shares in the company, valued at $2,232,988.80. The trade was a 6.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banc of California

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in Banc of California during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Banc of California by 205.8% in the fourth 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. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Banc of California in the fourth quarter worth $97,000. 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.