Banc of California, Inc. $BANC Shares Sold by Kennedy Capital Management LLC

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 38.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 920,439 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 566,416 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $12,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Banc of California by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,942,131 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $183,649,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029,119 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Banc of California by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,575,301 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,874,000 after buying an additional 50,452 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 16.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,280,573 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,121,000 after buying an additional 887,497 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Banc of California by 21.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,410,938 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,024,000 after acquiring an additional 957,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centerbridge Partners L.P. grew its stake in Banc of California by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Centerbridge Partners L.P. now owns 4,771,784 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,712,000 after acquiring an additional 752,239 shares in the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BANC opened at $18.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $17.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.79. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.52 and a 1-year high of $19.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The bank reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter. Banc of California had a return on equity of 8.00% and a net margin of 11.49%.The firm had revenue of $315.66 million for the quarter. Analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Banc of California’s payout ratio is currently 38.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Banc of California from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Banc of California from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banc of California in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.25.

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.