Blueshift Asset Management LLC Makes New $163,000 Investment in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 10,533 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $163,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. PL Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Banc of California by 1,446.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank’s stock worth $722,823,000 after acquiring an additional 43,730,207 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Banc of California by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,556,614 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,525,000 after purchasing an additional 62,269 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,194,839 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 221,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted 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 valued at $25,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Banc of California stock opened at $14.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.40. Banc of California, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.88 and a 52-week high of $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BANC. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Banc of California in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.18.

Banc of California Profile

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.