Freestone Grove Partners LP Buys Shares of 38,432 Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 38,432 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $594,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 1,446.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank's stock worth $722,823,000 after buying an additional 43,730,207 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Banc of California by 274.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,393,076 shares of the bank's stock worth $83,377,000 after acquiring an additional 3,953,380 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 644,330 shares during the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,326,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Banc of California by 1,159.7% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 479,912 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,419,000 after purchasing an additional 441,814 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.16 per share, with a total value of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 169,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,232,988.80. This trade represents a 6.26 % increase 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 hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.69% of the company's stock.

Banc of California Price Performance

BANC traded down $0.14 on Friday, reaching $13.77. The company had a trading volume of 733,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,342,061. Banc of California, Inc. has a one year low of $11.52 and a one year high of $18.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.59 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.49 and a 200-day moving average of $15.11. 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 (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $266.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $272.36 million. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. Banc of California's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BANC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banc of California from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James lifted their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Banc of California currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.25.

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.