Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 43,800 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Banc of California by 3.5% in Q1, holding over 1.29 million shares valued at approximately $18.4 million.
• Banc of California reported an EPS of $0.31 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates of $0.28, with a 5.2% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The bank has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is set for September 15th.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,296,328 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 43,800 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.82% of Banc of California worth $18,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BANC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 274.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,393,076 shares of the bank's stock valued at $83,377,000 after acquiring an additional 3,953,380 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 2,119.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,876,914 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747,262 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,797,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Banc of California Stock Up 0.6%

Banc of California stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $16.84. The company had a trading volume of 2,429,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,950,198. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm's fifty day moving average is $14.94 and its 200-day moving average is $14.28. Banc of California, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $272.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.43 million. Banc of California had a net margin of 8.30% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Banc of California's payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BANC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.33.

Insider Activity at Banc of California

In other Banc of California news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 2,280,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,379,976. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total transaction of $149,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,902 shares of the company's stock, valued at $419,649.16. This represents a 26.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 86,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,208,000 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.69% of the company's stock.

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.