Raymond James Financial Upgrades Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) to “Strong-Buy”

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Raymond James Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $20.00 target price on the bank’s stock. Raymond James Financial’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 13.64% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Banc of California from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banc of California in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays increased their target price on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Banc of California from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a report on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Banc of California has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.18.

Banc of California Stock Performance

BANC stock opened at $17.60 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $16.17 and its 200-day moving average is $14.70. 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 company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.08 and a beta of 0.68. Banc of California has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $18.24.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $272.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Banc of California will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $331,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 66,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,102,305.96. This trade represents a 23.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banc of California

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Banc of California by 18.6% during 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Banc of California by 16.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,280,573 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,121,000 after purchasing an additional 887,497 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Banc of California by 21.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,410,938 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,024,000 after purchasing an additional 957,693 shares during the period. Finally, Centerbridge Partners L.P. grew its holdings in 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. Institutional investors 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.