495,324 Shares in Banc of California, Inc. $BANC Bought by Rhino Investment Partners Inc

Rhino Investment Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 495,324 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $7,029,000. Banc of California accounts for approximately 1.7% of Rhino Investment Partners Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 274.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,393,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,377,000 after buying an additional 3,953,380 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 2,119.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,876,914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747,262 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Banc of California by 127.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,453,245 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,192,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495,043 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $183,649,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029,119 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 701.9% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 952,674 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,728,000 after purchasing an additional 833,874 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banc of California Price Performance

BANC opened at $15.6880 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.61 and a 200-day moving average of $14.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.90. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.52 and a 1-year high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $278.43 million. Banc of California had a net margin of 8.30% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total transaction of $149,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,902 shares in the company, valued at $419,649.16. This trade represents a 26.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total transaction of $532,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,280,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,379,976. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,208,000 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BANC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Banc of California in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.33.

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.