30,023 Shares in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Bought by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 30,023 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BANC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Banc of California from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on Banc of California from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Banc of California from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Banc of California in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Banc of California has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.09.

Banc of California Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of BANC traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.96. 3,979,003 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,274,613. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.33. Banc of California, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.70 and a 52 week high of $18.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. On average, analysts predict that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.43%.

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.