BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 34,943 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 277,477 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 34,943 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.17% of Banc of California worth $4,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Banc of California by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 425,634 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,270,000 after purchasing an additional 17,876 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,323,000. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 99,084 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,286 shares of the bank's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026 shares during the period. Finally, Sippican Capital Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 123,667 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,057 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on BANC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays reduced 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. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Banc of California from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.09.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of Banc of California stock traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $14.34. 67,540 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,492,016. Banc of California, Inc. has a one year low of $11.52 and a one year high of $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's 50 day moving average is $13.59 and its 200-day moving average is $15.06.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $266.01 million for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.69% of the company's stock.

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.