Quantbot Technologies LP Cuts Stake in Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

Quantbot Technologies LP lowered its position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 22.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 90,911 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 26,975 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $1,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BANC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in 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 worth $83,377,000 after buying an additional 3,953,380 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Banc of California by 2,119.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,876,914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,477,000 after buying an additional 2,747,262 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Banc of California by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,453,245 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,192,000 after buying an additional 2,495,043 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its position in Banc of California by 701.9% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 952,674 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,728,000 after buying an additional 833,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,797,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BANC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Banc of California in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Barclays increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started 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 for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.33.

Insider Activity

In other Banc of California news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,280,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,379,976. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 11,000 shares of Banc of California 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 sale, the insider owned 30,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,649.16. This trade represents a 26.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,208,000 over the last 90 days. 2.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Banc of California Stock Performance

NYSE:BANC opened at $16.2930 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.27. Banc of California, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $18.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07 and a beta of 0.69.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.03. Banc of California had a net margin of 8.30% and a return on equity of 7.37%. 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 firm posted $0.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

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

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.