Raymond James Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Stock

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) had its price objective boosted by Raymond James from $17.00 to $18.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of 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 target price 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, Stephens raised their target price on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.10.

Banc of California Price Performance

NYSE:BANC opened at $16.00 on Friday. Banc of California has a 52 week low of $11.88 and a 52 week high of $18.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.75 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released 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 negative net margin of 20.75% and a positive return on equity of 2.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Banc of California will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BANC. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Banc of California by 93.2% during 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. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Banc of California by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,281,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,270,000 after buying an additional 221,125 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its position in Banc of California by 589.8% during the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,732,894 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,526,000 after buying an additional 1,481,692 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Banc of California during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $21,207,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Banc of California by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,233,452 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,169,000 after buying an additional 44,951 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.