Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Price Target to $16.00

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $20.00 to $16.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BANC. StockNews.com upgraded Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed 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 target on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banc of California presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.73.

Banc of California Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE BANC opened at $12.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.94 and a beta of 0.85. Banc of California has a 52-week low of $11.52 and a 52-week high of $18.08. 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 (NYSE:BANC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Banc of California will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.43%.

Institutional Trading of Banc of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in Banc of California during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 205.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,348 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the 4th quarter worth about $97,000. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.