AlphaQuest LLC Takes Position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 8,732 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $135,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BANC. PL Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 1,446.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its stake 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 valued at $25,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481,692 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the third quarter valued at about $21,207,000. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 93.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,476,387 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the third quarter valued at about $12,494,000. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BANC shares. Raymond James lifted 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. 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.18.

Banc of California Price Performance

BANC stock opened at $14.22 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $11.88 and a one year high of $18.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.38 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.41.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. On average, analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is 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.