Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.10.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BANC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens upped their target price on Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Banc of California from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Banc of California Price Performance

BANC stock opened at $16.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.19 and a 200-day moving average of $14.99. The company has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.81 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Banc of California has a 12-month low of $11.88 and a 12-month high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $431.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.46 million. Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.93% and a negative net margin of 20.75%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Banc of California will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Banc of California’s payout ratio is -9.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Banc of California by 25.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,222,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,182,000 after purchasing an additional 663,061 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 93.2% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,060,285 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,348,000 after buying an additional 74,039 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 589.8% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California in the 3rd quarter worth $21,207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

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.