Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 265,537 shares of the bank's stock after selling 53,712 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.17% of Banc of California worth $4,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BANC. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Banc of California by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 99,084 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 4.8% during the fourth 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 period. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 4.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the bank's stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake 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 worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Banc of California by 5.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,659 shares of the bank's stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target 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 lowered their target price on Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Banc of California in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.73.

Banc of California Stock Performance

BANC stock traded down $0.32 during trading on Monday, reaching $12.89. The company had a trading volume of 2,193,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,358,193. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. Banc of California, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $18.08. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.22.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.43%.

Banc of California Company 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.