Banc of California Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BANC)

Key Points

• On Tuesday, Banc of California saw a significant surge in call options trading, with 18,018 options purchased, marking an increase of approximately 1,013% compared to the average volume.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Banc of California, with an average target price of $17.33 based on 8 buy and 4 hold ratings.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share has been announced, which will be paid on October 1st, representing an annual yield of 2.6%.

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 18,018 call options on the stock. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof1,013% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,619 call options.

Insider Activity

In other Banc of California news, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total transaction of $149,380.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,902 shares in the company, valued at $419,649.16. This represents a 26.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total transaction of $532,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,280,280 shares in the company, valued at $32,379,976. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,208,000. 2.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banc of California

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Banc of California by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,201 shares of the bank's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Banc of California by 41.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,049 shares of the bank's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,367 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Banc of California in the first quarter valued at about $123,000. Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in Banc of California in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $148,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Banc of California during the 4th quarter worth approximately $156,000. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BANC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Banc of California in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.33.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of BANC traded up $0.7330 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.2930. 4,376,082 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,045,918. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Banc of California has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $18.08. The business's 50 day moving average is $14.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07 and a beta of 0.69.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.03. Banc of California had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 8.30%.The firm had revenue of $272.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.12 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Banc of California will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

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.