Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases Shares of 20,833 Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,833 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Banc of California by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,913,012 shares of the bank's stock valued at $168,716,000 after purchasing an additional 644,330 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Banc of California by 274.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,393,076 shares of the bank's stock valued at $83,377,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953,380 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,747,262 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in Banc of California by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,858,527 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,733,000 after purchasing an additional 125,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Banc of California by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,629,512 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,192,000 after purchasing an additional 152,032 shares in the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BANC. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Banc of California in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 reiterated 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, 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.33.

Banc of California Stock Performance

NYSE:BANC opened at $15.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.52 and a 1-year 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 business had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $272.36 million. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 8.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. Research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Banc of California's payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Banc of California news, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total value of $149,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,902 shares of the company's stock, valued at $419,649.16. The trade was a 26.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James Andrew Barker acquired 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the director directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 86,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,208,000. Insiders own 2.69% of the company's stock.

Banc of California Company 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.

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