Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 65,400 Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 65,400 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $878,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP increased its stake in Banc of California by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP now owns 481,795 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,471,000 after purchasing an additional 50,672 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter worth about $307,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 628,950 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,447,000 after acquiring an additional 114,173 shares during the period. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter worth about $831,000. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of BANC opened at $14.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.32. Banc of California, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.72 and a twelve month high of $16.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.23 and a beta of 1.15.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.07). Banc of California had a negative net margin of 29.10% and a positive return on equity of 2.25%. The business had revenue of $522.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $296.02 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -12.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Banc of California from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Banc of California from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banc of California has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banc of California

In other Banc of California news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.16 per share, with a total value of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 159,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,101,388.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 7.37% of the company’s stock.

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.