Invesco Ltd. Purchases 2,495,043 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Banc of California by 127.4% in the first quarter, owning 4,453,245 shares worth approximately $63.2 million.
• Banc of California recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.31, surpassing estimates, with a revenue of $272.85 million for the quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes sales from Olivia I. Lindsay and Richard J. Lashley, with total insider sales amounting to $1.2 million in the last quarter.

Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 127.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,453,245 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 2,495,043 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 2.80% of Banc of California worth $63,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BANC. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 41.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,049 shares of the bank's stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 2,367 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the first quarter worth $148,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter worth $156,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter worth $178,000. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the first quarter worth $184,000. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Banc of California news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 2,280,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,379,976. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total transaction of $149,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,902 shares in the company, valued at $419,649.16. This trade 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 worth $1,208,000 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.33.

Banc of California Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:BANC traded down $0.1670 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $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 quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93 and a beta of 0.69. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $14.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.27. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.03. Banc of California had a net margin of 8.30% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The firm had revenue of $272.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.