Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $20.00 target price on the bank’s stock, up from their prior target price of $17.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (up from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.00.

Banc of California Trading Up 1.0%

BANC opened at $17.09 on Wednesday. Banc of California has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.65.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.03. Banc of California had a net margin of 8.30% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The firm had revenue of $272.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Banc of California will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Banc of California’s payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Hamid Hussain sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.59, for a total transaction of $331,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,102,305.96. The trade was a 23.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Banc of California by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Banc of California by 210.8% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,809 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 3,940 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Banc of California by 41.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,049 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 2,367 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Banc of California during the first quarter worth $123,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in Banc of California during the first quarter worth $148,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

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.