Summit Securities Group LLC Takes Position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,300 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Banc of California by 1,446.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank’s stock worth $722,823,000 after buying an additional 43,730,207 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in Banc of California by 589.8% during the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,732,894 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,481,692 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Banc of California during the 3rd quarter valued at $21,207,000. Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in Banc of California in the 3rd quarter valued at $12,494,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in Banc of California by 1,159.7% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 479,912 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,419,000 after purchasing an additional 441,814 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens cut their price target on Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.18.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of BANC stock opened at $14.15 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.43. Banc of California, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.88 and a 12 month high of $18.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. Research analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.43%.

Banc of California Company 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.