American Century Companies Inc. Trims Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 28.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,170,508 shares of the bank's stock after selling 1,280,226 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.00% of Banc of California worth $49,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Banc of California during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,574 shares of the bank's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Banc of California by 205.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,348 shares of the bank's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 2,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,286 shares of the bank's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Banc of California from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Banc of California presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.18.

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Banc of California Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:BANC traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $14.15. The company had a trading volume of 2,424,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,210,040. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.88 and a 1 year high of $18.08. The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.26 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $15.09 and a 200 day moving average of $15.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Banc of California's payout ratio is presently 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.