Sheets Smith Wealth Management Takes Position in Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

Sheets Smith Wealth Management bought a new position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 33,336 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $552,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BANC. Centerbridge Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 18.7% in the first quarter. Centerbridge Partners L.P. now owns 4,771,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,712,000 after buying an additional 752,239 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California in the 2nd quarter valued at $455,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Banc of California by 63.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,797,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,249,000 after acquiring an additional 698,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EJF Capital LLC lifted its position in Banc of California by 52.4% during the 1st quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 220,276 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,126,000 after acquiring an additional 75,726 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BANC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial raised Banc of California from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Banc of California from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Banc of California from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $21.50 in a report on Monday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banc of California has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.95.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BANC opened at $19.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95 and a beta of 0.72. Banc of California, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.52 and a 12 month high of $20.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $315.66 million during the quarter. Banc of California had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 8.00%. 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 Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.46%.

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.