Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Receives $20.86 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.8636.

BANC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Banc of California from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Banc of California from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Banc of California from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Banc of California from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $21.50 in a research report on Monday, October 27th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BANC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,951,795 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $191,970,000 after buying an additional 438,320 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Banc of California by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,010,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,938,000 after acquiring an additional 181,029 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Banc of California by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,863,656 shares of the bank’s stock worth $113,111,000 after purchasing an additional 810,254 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Banc of California by 8.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,796,996 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,879,000 after purchasing an additional 297,680 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 243.9% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,430,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,433,394 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Trading Down 5.2%

NYSE:BANC opened at $19.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.07 and a 200 day moving average of $18.13. Banc of California has a 52 week low of $11.52 and a 52 week high of $21.61.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $292.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $288.41 million. Banc of California had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 8.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Banc of California will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This is a positive change from Banc of California’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Banc of California’s payout ratio is presently 33.90%.

About Banc of California

Banc of California, N.A. is a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Santa Ana, California, offering a broad spectrum of banking products and services to corporate and individual customers. The bank focuses on serving middle-market businesses, professional service firms, real estate investors and developers, and entrepreneurs throughout California. Its core offerings include deposit accounts, treasury management services, commercial real estate lending, equipment finance, lines of credit and Small Business Administration lending, complemented by cash management and online banking solutions.

Operating a network of branches and lending offices concentrated in both Southern and Northern California, Banc of California seeks to support local businesses and communities with personalized service and regional expertise.