SG Americas Securities LLC Trims Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 47.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,211 shares of the bank's stock after selling 17,995 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Banc of California were worth $312,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BANC. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Banc of California by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,476,387 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194,839 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Banc of California by 3.7% in the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,060,285 shares of the bank's stock worth $30,348,000 after acquiring an additional 74,039 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Banc of California by 589.8% in the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,732,894 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481,692 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Banc of California during the third quarter valued at approximately $21,207,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Banc of California by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,233,452 shares of the bank's stock valued at $18,169,000 after purchasing an additional 44,951 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BANC shares. 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 company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banc of California from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Banc of California has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.18.

Banc of California Stock Down 1.5 %

BANC traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.27. 1,699,982 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,832,503. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $16.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Banc of California, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.88 and a fifty-two week high of $18.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05 and a beta of 1.14.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 7.06%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Banc of California's payout ratio is 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.