Royce & Associates LP Buys 360,210 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Royce & Associates LP increased its position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 30.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,532,813 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 360,210 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.97% of Banc of California worth $21,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BANC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Banc of California by 274.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,393,076 shares of the bank's stock worth $83,377,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953,380 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $44,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,747,262 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Banc of California by 701.9% in the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 952,674 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,728,000 after buying an additional 833,874 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Banc of California by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,913,012 shares of the bank's stock worth $168,716,000 after buying an additional 644,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,326,000. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.16 per share, with a total value of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total value of $149,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,902 shares of the company's stock, valued at $419,649.16. This represents a 26.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,208,000 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.69% of the company's stock.

Banc of California Price Performance

BANC traded up $0.51 on Friday, hitting $15.10. 3,854,376 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,543,152. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $14.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Banc of California, Inc. has a one year low of $11.52 and a one year high of $18.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22 and a beta of 0.67.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $278.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Banc of California presently has a consensus 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.