Trexquant Investment LP Acquires New Shares in Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP invested approximately $3.43 million in Banc of California, acquiring 241,535 shares, which represents roughly 0.15% ownership in the company.
• Banc of California recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.31, surpassing analyst expectations, and has projected a full fiscal year EPS of 1.31.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10, which equates to a yield of 2.4%, with the payout scheduled for October 1st.

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 241,535 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $3,427,000. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.15% of Banc of California at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Banc of California by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 75,563 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Banc of California by 11.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,802 shares of the bank's stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Banc of California by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,370 shares of the bank's stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Banc of California by 2.5% during the first quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 67,093 shares of the bank's stock valued at $904,000 after buying an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peregrine Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Banc of California by 0.5% during the first quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 432,553 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,138,000 after buying an additional 2,027 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Banc of California Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE BANC traded down $0.08 on Monday, hitting $16.77. 190,179 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,350,660. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73 and a beta of 0.71. Banc of California, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.52 and a 52-week high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share 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 period last year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price objective (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight equities research 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.com, Banc of California currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banc of California

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

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.