Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Shares Acquired by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 485,575 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 61,693 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.31% of Banc of California worth $7,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BANC. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Banc of California by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,858,527 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,733,000 after purchasing an additional 125,633 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Banc of California by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 277,477 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,290,000 after acquiring an additional 34,943 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Banc of California by 74.8% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,049,624 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,230,000 after acquiring an additional 449,093 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its position in Banc of California by 701.9% during 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. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Banc of California by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,370 shares of the bank's stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Banc of California currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,232,988.80. This trade represents a 6.26% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.69% of the company's stock.

Banc of California Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of BANC stock traded down $0.05 on Friday, hitting $13.82. 75,481 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,281,869. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $13.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.95. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.67 and a beta of 0.69. Banc of California, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $18.08.

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

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Banc of California's 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.