Banc of California Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BANC)

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 18,018 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseofapproximately1,013% compared to the average volume of 1,619 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BANC. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Stephens reaffirmed 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Banc of California in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.33.

Banc of California Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE BANC opened at $15.5350 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90 and a beta of 0.69. Banc of California has a 52-week low of $11.52 and a 52-week high of $18.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.26.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $272.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $278.43 million. Banc of California had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 8.30%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Banc of California will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Banc of California news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total transaction of $532,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,280,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,379,976. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $149,380.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $419,649.16. This represents a 26.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,208,000 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 24,528 shares of the bank’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 353.4% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 34,483 shares of the bank’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 26,878 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc acquired a new position in Banc of California during the second quarter worth about $1,951,000. HRT Financial LP purchased a new position in Banc of California in the second quarter valued at about $2,341,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in Banc of California by 8.0% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 383,144 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,383,000 after buying an additional 28,436 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

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.