JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,941,316 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 18,091 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $28,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BANC. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Banc of California by 25.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,222,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,182,000 after purchasing an additional 663,061 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 93.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,476,387 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,477,000 after buying an additional 1,194,839 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Banc of California by 3.7% in the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,060,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,348,000 after buying an additional 74,039 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Banc of California by 589.8% in the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,732,894 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,526,000 after buying an additional 1,481,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Banc of California in the third quarter worth about $21,207,000. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of BANC opened at $15.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.78. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of -3.67 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.88 and a 1-year high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $431.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.46 million. Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.93% and a negative net margin of 20.75%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Banc of California from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.10.

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.