Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Receives $17.45 Average Price Target from Analysts

Key Points

• Banc of California has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from eleven research firms, with eight analysts recommending a buy and three a hold.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10, scheduled to be paid on October 1st, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.4%.
• Analysts expect Banc of California to report 1.31 EPS for the current year, following a recent quarterly earnings report that exceeded consensus estimates.

Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.4545.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BANC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Friday, July 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banc of California

In other Banc of California news, insider Hamid Hussain sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.59, for a total transaction of $331,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,102,305.96. This represents a 23.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Banc of California

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BANC. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 274.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,393,076 shares of the bank's stock worth $83,377,000 after buying an additional 3,953,380 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Banc of California by 127.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,453,245 shares of the bank's stock valued at $63,192,000 after purchasing an additional 2,495,043 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Banc of California by 18.6% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Banc of California in the 2nd quarter valued at $17,400,000. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Banc of California by 265.8% in the 2nd quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,365,440 shares of the bank's stock valued at $19,184,000 after purchasing an additional 992,154 shares in the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BANC traded down $0.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $16.54. 1,555,079 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,116,912. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.45. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 0.71. 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 has a 12-month low of $11.52 and a 12-month high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $272.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.43 million. Banc of California had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 8.30%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Banc of California will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

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.