Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Shares Purchased by EMC Capital Management

EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 4,319.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,425 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,076 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 93.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,476,387 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194,839 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 3.7% in the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,060,285 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,348,000 after purchasing an additional 74,039 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,481,692 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Banc of California during the 3rd quarter worth about $21,207,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Banc of California by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,233,452 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,169,000 after purchasing an additional 44,951 shares in the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BANC shares. StockNews.com raised Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered 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 report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.20.

Banc of California Stock Performance

NYSE BANC opened at $16.22 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $16.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of -3.80 and a beta of 1.14. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.88 and a 1 year high of $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.93% and a negative net margin of 20.75%. As a group, analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.37%.

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.