848,182 Shares in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Purchased by Azora Capital LP

Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 848,182 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $12,494,000. Azora Capital LP owned 0.53% of Banc of California at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 589.8% during the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,732,894 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,526,000 after buying an additional 1,481,692 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the 3rd quarter valued at about $158,000. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,476,387 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,477,000 after buying an additional 1,194,839 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 242,534 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,573,000 after buying an additional 62,014 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,659 shares of the bank's stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Banc of California

In other news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total value of $1,050,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 719,826 shares in the company, valued at $10,077,564. This represents a 9.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 7.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upgraded Banc of California from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $18.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup began coverage on Banc of California in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.30.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of BANC traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $17.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,458,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,343,150. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of -4.00 and a beta of 1.13. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $15.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Banc of California, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.88 and a fifty-two week high of $18.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.11. Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.93% and a negative net margin of 20.75%. The business had revenue of $431.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Banc of California's payout ratio is -9.37%.

Banc of California 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.