Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $17.82 and traded as high as $20.78. Banc of California shares last traded at $20.1770, with a volume of 2,420,948 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup raised Banc of California from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $21.50 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Banc of California from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Banc of California from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banc of California in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.86.

Banc of California Stock Down 1.1%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.86. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 0.72.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $292.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.41 million. Banc of California had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 8.66%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This is a boost from Banc of California’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Banc of California’s payout ratio is presently 40.68%.

Institutional Trading of Banc of California

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Banc of California by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,951,795 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $191,970,000 after buying an additional 438,320 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Banc of California by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,863,656 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $113,111,000 after acquiring an additional 810,254 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Banc of California by 7.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,829,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $96,474,000 after purchasing an additional 418,293 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Banc of California by 8.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,796,996 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,879,000 after purchasing an additional 297,680 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 243.9% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,430,938 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,433,394 shares in the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.