Northern Trust Corp Buys 152,032 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,629,512 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 152,032 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.03% of Banc of California worth $25,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Banc of California by 1,446.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank's stock worth $722,823,000 after purchasing an additional 43,730,207 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,953,380 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,913,012 shares of the bank's stock valued at $168,716,000 after purchasing an additional 644,330 shares during the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,326,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 1,159.7% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 479,912 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,419,000 after purchasing an additional 441,814 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Banc of California from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.09.

Banc of California Stock Performance

NYSE BANC traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $14.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 981,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,531,253. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.09. Banc of California, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.52 and a 52 week high of $18.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $272.36 million. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. Banc of California's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Banc of California, Inc. 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 Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued 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 2.76%. Banc of California's payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Insider Transactions at Banc of California

In other news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.16 per share, with a total value of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 169,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,232,988.80. The trade was a 6.26% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.69% 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.