Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Upgraded to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $20.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price target of $17.00.

Several other research firms also recently commented on BANC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Banc of California has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Banc of California Trading Up 0.4%

BANC opened at $16.62 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.61. Banc of California has a one year low of $11.52 and a one year high of $18.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56 and a beta of 0.68.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $272.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.43 million. Banc of California had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 8.30%.Banc of California’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Banc of California news, insider Hamid Hussain sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.59, for a total transaction of $331,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 66,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,102,305.96. This represents a 23.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Banc of California by 18.6% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,942,131 shares of the bank’s stock worth $183,649,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029,119 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Banc of California by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,575,301 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,874,000 after buying an additional 50,452 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,280,573 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,121,000 after acquiring an additional 887,497 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Banc of California by 21.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,410,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,024,000 after acquiring an additional 957,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centerbridge Partners L.P. boosted its stake in Banc of California by 18.7% in the first quarter. Centerbridge Partners L.P. now owns 4,771,784 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,712,000 after acquiring an additional 752,239 shares in the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.