Banc of California Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BANC)

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 7,500 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 424% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,432 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banc of California

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BANC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Banc of California by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,951,795 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $191,970,000 after acquiring an additional 438,320 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Banc of California by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,464,447 shares of the bank’s stock worth $113,640,000 after acquiring an additional 600,791 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,010,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $115,938,000 after purchasing an additional 181,029 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,796,996 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,879,000 after purchasing an additional 297,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 243.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,430,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on BANC shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Banc of California from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Banc of California from $20.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.31.

Banc of California Price Performance

Banc of California stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $19.54. The company had a trading volume of 585,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,873,887. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Banc of California has a 12-month low of $13.24 and a 12-month high of $21.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.00.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $286.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $291.28 million. Banc of California had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 13.58%.Banc of California’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Banc of California will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.64%.

Banc of California Company Profile

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.