Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Buys 125,633 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,858,527 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 125,633 shares during the period. Banc of California makes up 1.7% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned about 1.17% of Banc of California worth $28,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Banc of California by 1,446.0% during the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank's stock valued at $722,823,000 after acquiring an additional 43,730,207 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 274.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 701.9% in the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 952,674 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,728,000 after acquiring an additional 833,874 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 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. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in Banc of California in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,326,000. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 169,680 shares in the company, valued at $2,232,988.80. This trade represents a 6.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BANC opened at $13.73 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 24.52 and a beta of 0.85. 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, 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banc of California from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on 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. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.25.

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.

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