Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 407,893 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $6,306,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Banc of California at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BANC. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 35.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 205.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,348 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 2,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California during the 4th quarter valued at about $97,000. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banc of California Price Performance

BANC opened at $14.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. Banc of California, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.52 and a 52-week high of $18.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.09.

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

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Insider Activity at Banc of California

In other news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 169,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,232,988.80. This trade represents a 6.26% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BANC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.09.

Banc of California 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.