Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

Key Points

• Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Banc of California by 27.3%, owning approximately $6.2 million worth of shares after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have generally rated Banc of California positively, with price targets ranging from $15.00 to $19.00 and a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating.
• Banc of California is scheduled to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share on October 1st, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.6% based on the current stock price.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 27.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 436,850 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 93,667 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.28% of Banc of California worth $6,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Banc of California in the fourth quarter worth $332,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Banc of California by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 121,201 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,874,000 after buying an additional 22,668 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Banc of California by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,026 shares of the bank's stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 5,135 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Banc of California by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 16,341 shares of the bank's stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Banc of California in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,343,000. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total value of $149,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,902 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $419,649.16. This represents a 26.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total value of $532,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,280,280 shares in the company, valued at $32,379,976. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,208,000 over the last ninety days. 2.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Banc of California Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of BANC traded down $0.1670 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $15.5530. The company had a trading volume of 1,231,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,161,850. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Banc of California, Inc. has a one year low of $11.52 and a one year high of $18.08. The company's fifty day moving average price is $14.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.27.

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

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BANC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on 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 price target on Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $18.00 target price (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a report on Friday, July 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Banc of California currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.33.

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.