Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Stock Has Average Price Target of $20.78

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.50.

BANC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target on Banc of California from $23.50 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Banc of California from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group started coverage on Banc of California in a report on Monday, September 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Banc of California from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Banc of California from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st.

Banc of California Stock Down 0.6%

BANC stock opened at $17.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.51 and a beta of 0.77. Banc of California has a 12 month low of $15.33 and a 12 month high of $21.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The bank reported ($1.61) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($2.01). The business had revenue of $16.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $295.32 million. Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 7.98% and a negative net margin of 1.44%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 94.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Banc of California will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Banc of California’s payout ratio is -114.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banc of California

In related news, General Counsel Ido Dotan sold 10,541 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.30, for a total transaction of $192,900.30. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 45,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $836,346.60. This trade represents a 18.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 6,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction of $117,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,419. The trade was a 15.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BANC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California in the 2nd quarter valued at about $462,252,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Banc of California by 10.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,464,447 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $113,640,000 after purchasing an additional 600,791 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Banc of California by 147.2% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,121,876 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $125,070,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645,579 shares during the period. North Reef Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 29.7% in the first quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 1,500,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,370,000 after buying an additional 343,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 5.6% in the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,462,302 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,707,000 after buying an additional 77,012 shares in the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banc of California Company Profile

Banc of California, Inc is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, Banc of California, N.A., provides banking and financial services to businesses, professionals and individuals. The bank serves customers primarily through branches and digital banking channels in California and selected markets.

Its products and services include commercial and consumer lending, commercial real estate financing, residential mortgage lending, deposit accounts, treasury management, cash management and online banking.