Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Purchases 1,299 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,370 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,574 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 205.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,348 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at about $97,000. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James Andrew Barker bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 169,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,232,988.80. This represents a 6.26% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.69% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of BANC opened at $14.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.79 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. Banc of California, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $18.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.07.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $266.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.36 million. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

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.