Brokerages Set Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Price Target at $17.33

Key Points

• Banc of California has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with four recommending a hold and eight recommending buy, alongside an average 12-month price target of $17.33.
• The bank reported earnings per share of $0.31, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $272.85 million, demonstrating a 5.2% year-over-year increase.
• Insider transactions include significant sales, with insiders offloading approximately 86,000 shares valued at over $1.2 million in recent months, indicating potential shifts in confidence among executives.

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.3333.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BANC. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price target (up from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th.

Banc of California Trading Down 0.4%

Banc of California stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $14.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,167,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,418,500. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28 and a beta of 0.69. Banc of California has a 12-month low of $11.52 and a 12-month high of $18.08. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $14.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.33.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Banc of California had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 8.30%. The firm had revenue of $272.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $278.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Banc of California will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Banc of California's payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Banc of California news, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 30,902 shares of the company's stock, valued at $419,649.16. This trade represents a 26.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total value of $532,500.00. Following the sale, 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 sold 86,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,208,000. 2.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banc of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Banc of California by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 21,276 shares of the bank's stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 3,258 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 274.6% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Banc of California in the 4th quarter worth approximately $332,000. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in Banc of California by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 20,082 shares of the bank's stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 22,668 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.