Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Price Target Cut to $15.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) had its target price trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $16.00 to $15.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the bank's stock.

BANC has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Banc of California has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.25.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BANC traded up $0.34 on Monday, hitting $13.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,639,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,353,679. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52 and a beta of 0.85. Banc of California has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $13.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.15.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $272.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. Banc of California's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Banc of California will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James Andrew Barker bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 169,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,232,988.80. The trade was a 6.26 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PL Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Banc of California by 1,446.0% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank's stock worth $722,823,000 after acquiring an additional 43,730,207 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,953,380 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 2,119.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,876,914 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,477,000 after buying an additional 2,747,262 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 701.9% in the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 952,674 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,728,000 after buying an additional 833,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Banc of California by 6.3% during the fourth 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. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.