Barclays Cuts Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Price Target to $18.00

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $19.00 to $18.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Stephens dropped their price target on Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banc of California currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.73.

Banc of California Price Performance

NYSE:BANC opened at $12.06 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $14.40 and its 200 day moving average is $15.28. Banc of California has a 12 month low of $11.52 and a 12 month high of $18.08. The company has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53 and a beta of 0.85. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Banc of California will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Banc of California’s payout ratio is presently 71.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 5.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,659 shares of the bank’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in Banc of California by 12.2% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 19,117 shares of the bank’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 2,080 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Banc of California during the 3rd quarter worth $489,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Banc of California during the 3rd quarter valued at $21,207,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Banc of California during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,136,000. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

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.