Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Earns “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $16.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Banc of California from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Banc of California in a report on Monday, January 29th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $16.64.

Banc of California Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of BANC stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $14.21. 79,470 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,455,964. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Banc of California has a 12 month low of $9.72 and a 12 month high of $16.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.32.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.07). Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.25% and a negative net margin of 29.10%. The company had revenue of $522.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $296.02 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Banc of California will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Banc of California’s payout ratio is currently -12.01%.

Insider Activity at Banc of California

In other news, Director Richard J. Lashley purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.40 per share, for a total transaction of $214,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 7.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Banc of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BANC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Banc of California by 143.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,014,810 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,069,000 after acquiring an additional 5,311,842 shares in the last quarter. Bayview Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California in the 4th quarter valued at $27,297,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Banc of California by 148.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,997,802 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791,992 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Banc of California by 345.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,291,541 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,775,000 after acquiring an additional 1,777,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Banc of California by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,853,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615,478 shares in the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.