Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $13.95, but opened at $13.53. Banc of California shares last traded at $13.94, with a volume of 281,469 shares trading hands.

The bank reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $522.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $296.02 million. Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.25% and a negative net margin of 29.10%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 EPS.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Banc of California’s payout ratio is currently -12.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BANC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Banc of California in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banc of California to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Banc of California from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.64.

Insider Activity

In other Banc of California news, Director James Andrew Barker bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 159,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,101,388.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 7.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BANC. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,373,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Sippican Capital Advisors grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 115,144 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,435 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.23 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.50 and a 200 day moving average of $13.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

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.