Xponance Inc. Makes New $148,000 Investment in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 10,408 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $148,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Banc of California by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,913,012 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,716,000 after acquiring an additional 644,330 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Banc of California by 274.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,393,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,377,000 after buying an additional 3,953,380 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Banc of California by 2,119.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,876,914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747,262 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Banc of California by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,858,527 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,733,000 after buying an additional 125,633 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Banc of California by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,629,512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,192,000 after purchasing an additional 152,032 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Price Performance

Banc of California stock opened at $15.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $14.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11 and a beta of 0.67. Banc of California, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.52 and a 52-week high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.36 million. Banc of California had a net margin of 8.23% and a return on equity of 6.30%. Banc of California’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on BANC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Banc of California in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price 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 eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.33.

Insider Activity at Banc of California

In related news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 169,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,232,988.80. This represents a 6.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total value of $149,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,649.16. This trade represents a 26.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 86,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,208,000. 2.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Banc of California

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.