224,746 Shares in Banc of California, Inc. $BANC Purchased by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 224,746 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $4,599,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,951,795 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $191,970,000 after purchasing an additional 438,320 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the second quarter valued at approximately $462,252,000. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 598,427 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,544,000 after purchasing an additional 132,328 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Banc of California by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,317,363 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,702,000 after purchasing an additional 187,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in Banc of California by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 915,325 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,657,000 after purchasing an additional 96,372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE BANC opened at $18.62 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.11. Banc of California, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.33 and a fifty-two week high of $21.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.33 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The bank reported ($1.61) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($2.01). The business had revenue of $16.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $295.32 million. Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 7.98% and a negative net margin of 1.44%.Banc of California’s revenue was down 94.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is currently -114.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Banc of California from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Banc of California from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Brean Capital downgraded Banc of California from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Banc of California in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Banc of California from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Banc of California news, insider Olivia I. Lindsay sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total value of $117,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,419. This represents a 15.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.78% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Company Profile

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.