Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Banc of California, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with eight out of twelve analysts recommending to buy the stock.
• The stock's average 1-year price target is set at $17.33, with several analysts raising their target prices recently.
• Banc of California announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.4%, payable on October 1st.

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.3333.

Several research firms have weighed in on BANC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 target price (up from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the director directly owned 2,280,280 shares in the company, valued at $32,379,976. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total transaction of $149,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,902 shares in the company, valued at $419,649.16. The trade was a 26.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,208,000. Insiders own 2.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BANC. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Banc of California by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,026 shares of the bank's stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 5,135 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Banc of California in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,343,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Banc of California by 261.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 133,393 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,062,000 after acquiring an additional 96,497 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Banc of California by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 82,980 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Banc of California by 160.6% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 83,890 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 51,699 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Banc of California Stock Performance

NYSE:BANC opened at $16.76 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.27. Banc of California has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $18.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78 and a beta of 0.69.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.03. Banc of California had a net margin of 8.30% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The firm had revenue of $272.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Banc of California will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

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.

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