Whittier Trust Co. Has $199,000 Stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Whittier Trust Co. lessened its stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 12.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,000 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 16,341 shares of the bank’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 1.5% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 75,563 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,072,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,370 shares of the bank’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 20,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peregrine Capital Management LLC grew its position in Banc of California by 0.5% during the first quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 432,553 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,027 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BANC opened at $15.02 on Friday. Banc of California, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $18.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.40. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11 and a beta of 0.67.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.36 million. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 8.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Banc of California news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total value of $532,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,280,280 shares in the company, valued at $32,379,976. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James Andrew Barker bought 10,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 169,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,232,988.80. This trade represents a 6.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,208,000 over the last three months. 2.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on BANC. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Banc of California in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.33.

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.