Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 31,222 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 457,666 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,222 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $7,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Banc of California by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 99,084 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Banc of California by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Banc of California by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Banc of California by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 16,341 shares of the bank’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Banc of California by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,370 shares of the bank’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Banc of California

In other news, Director James Andrew Barker bought 10,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 169,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,232,988.80. The trade was a 6.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Banc of California Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:BANC opened at $14.45 on Friday. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.52 and a 1 year high of $18.08. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.79 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $13.58 and its 200 day moving average is $15.07.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. The company had revenue of $266.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. Banc of California’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BANC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.09.

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.