UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 5,024 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 1.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 346,368 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,024 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $5,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the 2nd quarter valued at $549,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Banc of California by 13.6% during the second quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,986,246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,384,000 after buying an additional 238,242 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in Banc of California by 71.4% in the second quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 107,842 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 44,920 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Banc of California by 461.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 651,695 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,599,000 after acquiring an additional 535,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 242,534 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,573,000 after purchasing an additional 62,014 shares during the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banc of California Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE BANC opened at $16.99 on Thursday. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.88 and a 1 year high of $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.87 and a 200 day moving average of $14.42. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.98 and a beta of 1.14.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.11. Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.93% and a negative net margin of 20.75%. The firm had revenue of $431.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on BANC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on Banc of California in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.80.

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.