T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Boosts Position in Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 18.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,942,131 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,029,119 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.08% of Banc of California worth $183,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 274.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Banc of California by 2,119.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,876,914 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747,262 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake 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. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $14,728,000 after purchasing an additional 833,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter worth about $9,326,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:BANC opened at $15.6880 on Thursday. Banc of California, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.52 and a 12-month high of $18.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.27. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14 and a beta of 0.69.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.43 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Banc of California’s payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Insider Transactions at Banc of California

In other news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total transaction of $532,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,280,280 shares in the company, valued at $32,379,976. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $419,649.16. This represents a 26.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,208,000. Company insiders own 2.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BANC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Banc of California in a report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.33.

Banc of California Company Profile

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.