Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases 1,481,692 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 589.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,732,894 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,481,692 shares during the quarter. Banc of California makes up approximately 1.3% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 1.09% of Banc of California worth $25,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BANC. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Banc of California by 146.3% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,143 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the second quarter valued at about $102,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the second quarter valued at about $132,000. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of BANC stock opened at $17.23 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.04 and a beta of 1.13. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.27.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $431.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.46 million. Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.93% and a negative net margin of 20.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Banc of California, Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $17.00 to $18.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.30.

Insider Transactions at Banc of California

In other Banc of California news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 719,826 shares in the company, valued at $10,077,564. This represents a 9.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.37% of the company’s stock.

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.