Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Has $25.53 Million Stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 589.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,732,894 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,481,692 shares during the period. Banc of California makes up about 1.3% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $25,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Banc of California by 394.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 331,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after acquiring an additional 264,070 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $549,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Banc of California by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,986,246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,384,000 after purchasing an additional 238,242 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its stake in Banc of California by 71.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 107,842 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 44,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Banc of California by 461.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 651,695 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,599,000 after buying an additional 535,654 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BANC shares. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on Banc of California in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Banc of California from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens raised their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.30.

Banc of California Stock Down 0.4 %

Banc of California stock opened at $17.23 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $15.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.27. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.36 and a 52-week high of $18.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.04 and a beta of 1.13.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $431.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.46 million. Banc of California had a negative net margin of 20.75% and a positive return on equity of 2.93%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Banc of California, Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Banc of California’s payout ratio is currently -9.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Banc of California news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total value of $1,050,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 719,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,077,564. The trade was a 9.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 7.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.