Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Shares in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 65,400 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $878,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned 0.11% of Banc of California at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 69.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,876,594 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,232,000 after acquiring an additional 770,938 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in Banc of California by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,815,709 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,478,000 after purchasing an additional 191,521 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Banc of California by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,618,848 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,041,000 after purchasing an additional 53,566 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Banc of California by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 793,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,817,000 after purchasing an additional 41,400 shares during the period. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its position in Banc of California by 290.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 727,452 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,006,000 after purchasing an additional 541,052 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banc of California Stock Performance

BANC stock opened at $14.09 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Banc of California, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.72 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.23 and a beta of 1.15.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $522.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $296.02 million. Banc of California had a negative net margin of 29.10% and a positive return on equity of 2.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is presently -12.01%.

Insider Activity at Banc of California

In related news, insider Robert G. Dyck sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.97, for a total value of $149,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $373,935.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BANC. Barclays cut their price target on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Banc of California from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wedbush cut their price target on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial cut their price target on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.64.

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.