Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.07.

BANC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Banc of California in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Banc of California in a report on Monday, January 29th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Banc of California from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th.

Banc of California Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BANC traded down $0.23 on Monday, hitting $13.93. 1,593,159 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,447,845. Banc of California has a 12 month low of $9.72 and a 12 month high of $16.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.41 and a beta of 1.15. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $14.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported ($4.55) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by ($4.27). The firm had revenue of $193.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.11 million. Banc of California had a negative net margin of 44.04% and a positive return on equity of 1.14%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Banc of California will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Banc of California's payout ratio is -12.66%.

Insider Transactions at Banc of California

In other Banc of California news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 159,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,101,388.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banc of California

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BANC. Warburg Pincus LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,411,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 143.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,014,810 shares of the bank's stock worth $121,069,000 after purchasing an additional 5,311,842 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,829,206 shares of the bank's stock worth $170,933,000 after purchasing an additional 38,558 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,853,903 shares of the bank's stock worth $65,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,478 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 148.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,997,802 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791,992 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company's stock.

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.