Barclays PLC Grows Stock Position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Barclays PLC raised its stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 476,410 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 50,776 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.30% of Banc of California worth $7,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Banc of California by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 280,214 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Banc of California by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,252,528 shares of the bank's stock valued at $19,364,000 after purchasing an additional 19,076 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Banc of California in the fourth quarter worth $360,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 637,423 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,855,000 after acquiring an additional 54,238 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Banc of California news, Director James Andrew Barker acquired 10,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 169,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,232,988.80. This represents a 6.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BANC shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays cut their price target on Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banc of California from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.25.

Banc of California Stock Down 0.4 %

Banc of California stock traded down $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $13.49. 2,552,578 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,359,522. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09 and a beta of 0.85. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $13.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.17. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.52 and a 1 year high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. The firm had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.36 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Banc of California's payout ratio is presently 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.