Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $16.95 and last traded at $16.95, with a volume of 3038369 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BANC. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $17.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Banc of California from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banc of California presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.30.

Banc of California Trading Up 3.6 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.83 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.11. The firm 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company 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 is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. Banc of California’s payout ratio is -9.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $1,050,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 719,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,077,564. This represents a 9.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Banc of California by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,597,751 shares of the bank’s stock worth $161,192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,941 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Banc of California by 394.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 331,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,037,000 after acquiring an additional 264,070 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Banc of California during the 1st quarter worth approximately $630,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in Banc of California during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,618,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in Banc of California during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $549,000. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banc of California Company 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.