Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 457,666 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,222 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned 0.29% of Banc of California worth $7,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,797,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 41,862 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $647,000 after acquiring an additional 12,891 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $156,000. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $285,000. Finally, Numerai GP LLC increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Numerai GP LLC now owns 89,942 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 17,565 shares during the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on BANC. Raymond James increased their price target on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.09.

Insider Activity at Banc of California

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

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BANC opened at $14.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.79 and a beta of 0.69. Banc of California, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $18.08. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.58 and a 200-day moving average of $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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.36 million. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.