Summit Securities Group LLC Invests $97,000 in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,300 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANC. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Banc of California by 1,446.0% during the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $722,823,000 after purchasing an additional 43,730,207 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Banc of California by 589.8% during 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 buying an additional 1,481,692 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Banc of California in the third quarter worth approximately $21,207,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Banc of California in the third quarter worth approximately $12,494,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 1,159.7% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 479,912 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,419,000 after buying an additional 441,814 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BANC opened at $14.15 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26 and a beta of 1.18. Banc of California, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.88 and a 1 year high of $18.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.43.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts predict that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Banc of California’s payout ratio is presently 71.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Banc of California in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens reduced 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banc of California currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.18.

About Banc of California

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.