Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Decreases Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 61.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,136,319 shares of the bank's stock after selling 1,824,944 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.72% of Banc of California worth $17,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 99,084 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Banc of California by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,052 shares of the bank's stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 4.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the bank's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,574 shares of the bank's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Banc of California by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 16,341 shares of the bank's stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BANC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Banc of California from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reiterated 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.25.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BANC opened at $13.67 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $13.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41 and a beta of 0.69. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The business had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $272.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio is 61.54%.

Banc of California 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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