Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has raised its price target for Banc of California from $16.00 to $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.63% from its current stock price.
• Banc of California recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.31 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.28, alongside a year-over-year revenue increase of 5.2%.
• Insider trading activity showed that directors sold a total of 86,000 shares in the last 90 days, representing a total value of approximately $1.2 million.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the bank's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 target price (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, 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 research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.33.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of BANC stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $14.83. The stock had a trading volume of 2,615,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,586,311. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Banc of California has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $18.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

Insider Activity at Banc of California

In other Banc of California news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total transaction of $532,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,280,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,379,976. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 30,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,649.16. This trade represents a 26.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 2.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Banc of California

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 worth $183,649,000 after acquiring an additional 2,029,119 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,575,301 shares of the bank's stock valued at $135,874,000 after purchasing an additional 50,452 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,280,573 shares of the bank's stock valued at $89,121,000 after purchasing an additional 887,497 shares in the last quarter. Centerbridge Partners L.P. raised its holdings 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 valued at $67,712,000 after purchasing an additional 752,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 127.4% during 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. 86.88% of the stock is 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.