Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) saw a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,540,000 shares, an increase of 47.2% from the May 31st total of 10,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BANC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $17.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com raised Banc of California to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banc of California presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.31.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of BANC stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.78. The company had a trading volume of 4,918,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,840,976. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Banc of California has a 52 week low of $9.96 and a 52 week high of $16.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.84 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $13.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.83.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $522.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $296.02 million. Banc of California had a negative net margin of 29.10% and a positive return on equity of 2.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Banc of California will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -12.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banc of California

In other news, CEO Jared M. Wolff purchased 7,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.98 per share, with a total value of $99,677.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 268,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,756,356.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 7.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banc of California

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BANC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Banc of California by 17.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,597,751 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $161,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,941 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Banc of California by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,853,903 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,478 shares in the last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Banc of California by 0.7% during the first quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,224,219 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,040,000 after buying an additional 22,500 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 148.6% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,997,802 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 42.1% in the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,575,930 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,180,000 after buying an additional 762,959 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

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.