Jump Financial LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC reduced its stake in Banc of California, Inc. by 64.6%, selling 139,290 shares and holding 76,400 shares valued at $1,084,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Various institutional investors, including Wellington Management Group and Millennium Management, have significantly increased their stakes in Banc of California, indicating growing institutional interest.
• Banc of California recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10, with a current payout ratio of 61.54% and an annualized yield of 2.4%.

Jump Financial LLC reduced its stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 64.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,400 shares of the bank's stock after selling 139,290 shares during the quarter. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Banc of California were worth $1,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Banc of California by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,942,131 shares of the bank's stock valued at $183,649,000 after buying an additional 2,029,119 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Banc of California by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,575,301 shares of the bank's stock valued at $135,874,000 after buying an additional 50,452 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Banc of California by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,280,573 shares of the bank's stock valued at $89,121,000 after buying an additional 887,497 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Banc of California by 127.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,453,245 shares of the bank's stock valued at $63,192,000 after buying an additional 2,495,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $44,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747,262 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Hamid Hussain sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.59, for a total transaction of $331,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,102,305.96. The trade was a 23.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total transaction of $532,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,280,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,379,976. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,000 shares of company stock worth $1,390,420 in the last ninety days. 2.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BANC traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $16.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,741,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,810,487. 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 1 year low of $11.52 and a 1 year high of $18.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13 and a beta of 0.71. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $15.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.31.

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

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BANC shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Banc of California in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 target price (up from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, 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 research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.33.

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.