Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Director Richard J. Lashley Sells 37,500 Shares

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total transaction of $532,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,280,280 shares in the company, valued at $32,379,976. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Banc of California Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Banc of California stock traded down $0.06 on Thursday, reaching $14.05. 1,602,250 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,290,641. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $13.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.52 and a 1-year high of $18.08. The company has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.09 and a beta of 0.67.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The company had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $272.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Banc of California's payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banc of California

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Banc of California by 1,446.0% during the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank's stock worth $722,823,000 after acquiring an additional 43,730,207 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Banc of California by 18.6% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,942,131 shares of the bank's stock valued at $183,649,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029,119 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Banc of California by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,575,301 shares of the bank's stock worth $135,874,000 after purchasing an additional 50,452 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Banc of California by 16.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,280,573 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,121,000 after purchasing an additional 887,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centerbridge Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Banc of California by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Centerbridge Partners L.P. now owns 4,771,784 shares of the bank's stock worth $67,712,000 after buying an additional 752,239 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Banc of California in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Banc of California presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.17.

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.