Sterling Capital Management LLC Buys 3,901 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 36,259 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,901 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $561,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Banc of California by 1,446.0% during the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $722,823,000 after purchasing an additional 43,730,207 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 274.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,393,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,377,000 after buying an additional 3,953,380 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,556,614 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,525,000 after acquiring an additional 62,269 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,281,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,270,000 after acquiring an additional 221,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in Banc of California by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,478,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,859,000 after acquiring an additional 31,970 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of Banc of California stock opened at $13.19 on Friday. Banc of California, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.52 and a 52 week high of $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $14.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.21.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Banc of California’s payout ratio is 71.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Banc of California in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.73.

Banc of California 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.