PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) Shares Gap Up to $5.73

Shares of PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW – Get Rating) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $5.73, but opened at $6.28. PacWest Bancorp shares last traded at $6.16, with a volume of 11,149,634 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PACW shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on PacWest Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. TheStreet lowered PacWest Bancorp from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on PacWest Bancorp from $30.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on PacWest Bancorp from $30.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of PacWest Bancorp in a research report on Monday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.88.

PacWest Bancorp Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $871.14 million, a PE ratio of -0.94 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.61, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.21.

PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.01. PacWest Bancorp had a positive return on equity of 14.46% and a negative net margin of 48.43%. The firm had revenue of $315.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $311.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that PacWest Bancorp will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PacWest Bancorp Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. PacWest Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -0.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PacWest Bancorp news, COO Mark Yung bought 3,148 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.25 per share, for a total transaction of $48,007.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,118 shares in the company, valued at $184,799.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Mark Yung acquired 3,148 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.25 per share, with a total value of $48,007.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 12,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,799.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Paul W. Taylor bought 19,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.21 per share, with a total value of $439,758.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,577,270.61. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 51,833 shares of company stock worth $1,089,746 in the last ninety days. 1.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PacWest Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PacWest Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PacWest Bancorp by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the period. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PacWest Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in PacWest Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its position in PacWest Bancorp by 4,619.3% during the first quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 4,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 4,065 shares in the last quarter. 91.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About PacWest Bancorp

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PacWest Bancorp is a bank holding company, which specializes in financial and banking solutions. It offers commercial banking services including real estate, construction, commercial loans, comprehensive deposit, and treasury management services to small and middle-market businesses through the Pacific Western Bank.