Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.10.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BANC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wedbush increased their price target on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on Banc of California from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Banc of California from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Banc of California in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Banc of California by 589.8% during the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,732,894 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481,692 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California during the 3rd quarter valued at $21,207,000. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,476,387 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,477,000 after buying an additional 1,194,839 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in Banc of California in the 3rd quarter worth $12,494,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Banc of California by 25.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,222,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,182,000 after acquiring an additional 663,061 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banc of California Stock Up 6.1 %

Banc of California stock opened at $15.73 on Wednesday. Banc of California has a 12 month low of $11.88 and a 12 month high of $18.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.68 and a beta of 1.14.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $431.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Banc of California will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Banc of California’s payout ratio is currently -9.37%.

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.