Verition Fund Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,476,387 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 1,194,839 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC owned about 1.56% of Banc of California worth $36,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 242,534 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,573,000 after buying an additional 62,014 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Banc of California by 5.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,659 shares of the bank's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in Banc of California by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 247,116 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,640,000 after purchasing an additional 63,780 shares during the period. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new position in Banc of California in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,223,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 735.1% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 118,800 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,750,000 after purchasing an additional 104,575 shares during the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banc of California

In other news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $1,050,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 719,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,077,564. The trade was a 9.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Banc of California from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upgraded Banc of California from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.30.

Banc of California Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BANC traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $17.23. The company had a trading volume of 625,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,349,525. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.36 and a 1 year high of $18.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.04 and a beta of 1.13. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $15.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.27.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $431.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $229.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Banc of California's dividend payout ratio is presently -9.37%.

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.