Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Short Interest Update

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,140,000 shares, a decline of 8.2% from the October 31st total of 8,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $1,050,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 719,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,077,564. This trade represents a 9.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Banc of California by 394.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 331,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after acquiring an additional 264,070 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Banc of California in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $132,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Banc of California by 380.1% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,650 shares of the bank’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 38,516 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Banc of California by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 116,041 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 31,246 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Banc of California during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,953,000. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Banc of California stock traded down $0.02 on Tuesday, hitting $16.98. 1,311,638 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,342,781. 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 has a 1 year low of $11.88 and a 1 year high of $18.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.29.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $431.44 million for 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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Banc of California will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is -9.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush boosted their price target on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens boosted their target price on Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Banc of California in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Banc of California presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.30.

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.