Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 6,295 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,213 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,295 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BANC. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Banc of California during the 4th quarter worth $332,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Banc of California by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 121,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 22,668 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Banc of California by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,026 shares of the bank’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Banc of California by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 16,341 shares of the bank’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Banc of California during the 4th quarter worth about $1,343,000. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BANC opened at $15.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.52 and a 1-year high of $18.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $14.49 and its 200 day moving average is $14.28.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $272.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $278.43 million. Banc of California had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 8.30%. Banc of California’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

Insider Transactions at Banc of California

In related news, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total transaction of $149,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,649.16. This trade represents a 26.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total value of $532,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,280,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,379,976. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,208,000. 2.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BANC. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Banc of California from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Banc of California in a report on Monday, April 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Banc of California has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.33.

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.