Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) Raised to “Outperform” at Wedbush

Wedbush upgraded shares of Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $18.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price target of $14.00. Wedbush also issued estimates for Banc of California’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.15 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.24 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.66 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.29 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.32 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.33 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.30 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.36 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.39 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $1.55 EPS.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Banc of California from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Banc of California from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $16.28.

Banc of California Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Banc of California stock opened at $14.82 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Banc of California has a 12-month low of $9.96 and a 12-month high of $15.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of -4.45 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.98 and its 200-day moving average is $13.91.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $492.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $271.42 million. Banc of California had a negative net margin of 21.99% and a positive return on equity of 2.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Banc of California will post 0.59 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 Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is currently -12.01%.

Insider Activity at Banc of California

In other Banc of California news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $1,050,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 719,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,077,564. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BANC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Banc of California by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,014,810 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,069,000 after buying an additional 5,311,842 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in Banc of California during the first quarter worth $32,618,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Banc of California by 148.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,997,802 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791,992 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 288.4% in the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,748,004 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,004 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Banc of California in the 4th quarter valued at $12,185,000. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.