Graham Capital Management L.P. Purchases New Stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 44,188 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 99,084 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Banc of California by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,052 shares of the bank's stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Banc of California by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 16,341 shares of the bank's stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Banc of California by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,370 shares of the bank's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Banc of California

In other news, Director James Andrew Barker acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.16 per share, with a total value of $131,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 169,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,232,988.80. The trade was a 6.26% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Banc of California Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:BANC traded down $0.11 on Tuesday, hitting $14.29. 109,718 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,492,426. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.06. Banc of California, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.52 and a 52 week high of $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51 and a beta of 0.69.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. The business had revenue of $266.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. Banc of California's revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Banc of California's payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on BANC. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com raised Banc of California from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.09.

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.