Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.18.

Several research firms have weighed in on BANC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens cut 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 research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Banc of California by 1,446.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $722,823,000 after purchasing an additional 43,730,207 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Banc of California by 274.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,393,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,377,000 after buying an additional 3,953,380 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Banc of California by 2,119.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,876,914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,477,000 after buying an additional 2,747,262 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 589.8% during the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,732,894 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,526,000 after buying an additional 1,481,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Banc of California by 93.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,476,387 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194,839 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banc of California Stock Down 0.5 %

Banc of California stock opened at $14.16 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.44. 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 has a 1-year low of $11.88 and a 1-year high of $18.08. The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 1.14.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.43%.

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.