GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 762 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,201 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 762 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $59,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BANC. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Banc of California by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 686,067 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 17,990 shares during the last quarter. Centerbridge Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 18.7% during the first quarter. Centerbridge Partners L.P. now owns 4,771,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,712,000 after purchasing an additional 752,239 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 111.4% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 177,344 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,503,000 after purchasing an additional 93,454 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,575,301 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,874,000 after purchasing an additional 50,452 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the first quarter worth $6,390,000. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BANC shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Banc of California from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Banc of California from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 target price (up from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banc of California currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.00.

Banc of California Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:BANC opened at $17.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.30 and a beta of 0.68. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.52 and a 1 year high of $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.65.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.03. Banc of California had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 8.30%.The firm had revenue of $272.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banc of California

In other news, insider Hamid Hussain sold 20,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.59, for a total value of $331,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,102,305.96. This trade represents a 23.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.69% 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.