Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.25.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BANC shares. Citigroup raised Banc of California from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $18.00 to $21.50 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Raymond James Financial raised Banc of California from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Banc of California Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Banc of California stock opened at $19.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37 and a beta of 0.72. Banc of California has a 1-year low of $11.52 and a 1-year high of $19.15.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 13th. The bank reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter. Banc of California had a return on equity of 8.00% and a net margin of 11.49%.The firm had revenue of $315.66 million for the quarter. Analysts predict that Banc of California will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is 38.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Banc of California by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in shares of Banc of California by 145.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 4,181 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,475 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Banc of California during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $70,000. 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.