William Blair Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,556,614 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,269 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $39,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BANC. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 1,446.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,754,426 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $722,823,000 after buying an additional 43,730,207 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted 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 valued at $25,526,000 after buying an additional 1,481,692 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the third quarter valued at approximately $21,207,000. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 93.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,476,387 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,477,000 after buying an additional 1,194,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the third quarter valued at approximately $12,494,000. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BANC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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. Stephens reduced their price objective on Banc of California from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.18.

Banc of California Stock Performance

NYSE BANC opened at $14.22 on Tuesday. 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 $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $15.31 and a 200-day moving average of $15.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released 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, 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 business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.43%.

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.