Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 48,967 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $695,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANC. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Banc of California by 4.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Banc of California by 35.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Banc of California by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 16,341 shares of the bank's stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,370 shares of the bank's stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BANC shares. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banc of California

In related news, Director James Andrew Barker acquired 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,232,988.80. This represents a 6.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total value of $149,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,902 shares in the company, valued at $419,649.16. This represents a 26.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 86,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,208,000. 2.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of Banc of California stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $13.62. 1,338,251 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,295,383. The stock's fifty day moving average is $13.62 and its 200 day moving average is $14.73. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.32 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. Banc of California, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.52 and a 12 month high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.36 million. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Banc of California's payout ratio is 61.54%.

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.