Point72 Asset Management L.P. Makes New Investment in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 504,304 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $7,797,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.32% of Banc of California as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Banc of California in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Banc of California in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Banc of California by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,574 shares of the bank's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Banc of California by 205.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,348 shares of the bank's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Banc of California in the fourth quarter valued at about $97,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Banc of California

In other news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 169,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,232,988.80. This trade represents a 6.26% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on BANC shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Banc of California from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Banc of California currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.17.

Banc of California Price Performance

NYSE BANC traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $13.78. 1,360,989 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,296,413. The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $13.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.01. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $266.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $272.36 million. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.