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

Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research 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 analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.18.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Banc of California in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 1,446.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank’s stock worth $722,823,000 after acquiring an additional 43,730,207 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,913,012 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,716,000 after acquiring an additional 644,330 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 274.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,393,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,377,000 after acquiring an additional 3,953,380 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 2,119.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,876,914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,556,614 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,525,000 after acquiring an additional 62,269 shares in the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of Banc of California stock opened at $13.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.51 and a beta of 1.18. Banc of California has a one year low of $11.88 and a one year high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. Analysts forecast that Banc of California will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.43%.

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.