Man Group plc Acquires New Shares in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 18,421 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Numerai GP LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Numerai GP LLC now owns 89,942 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 17,565 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Banc of California by 2,119.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,876,914 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,477,000 after buying an additional 2,747,262 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Banc of California by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,078 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,223,000 after buying an additional 3,009 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,306,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the 4th quarter worth approximately $683,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James Andrew Barker bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.16 per share, with a total value of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 169,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,232,988.80. This represents a 6.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Banc of California Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:BANC traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $13.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,313,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,291,628. The business's fifty day moving average is $13.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.91. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50 and a beta of 0.69. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The business had revenue of $266.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share 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 $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BANC shares. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a report on Monday, April 28th. 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 report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Banc of California has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.17.

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.