Azora Capital LP Buys Shares of 848,182 Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 848,182 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $12,494,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BANC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Banc of California by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 0.8% in the third quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 98,420 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after buying an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,659 shares of the bank’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Banc of California by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 69,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Banc of California by 146.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,143 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup started coverage on Banc of California in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price target on Banc of California from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.30.

Banc of California Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Banc of California stock opened at $17.23 on Monday. Banc of California, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.36 and a fifty-two week high of $18.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $15.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of -4.04 and a beta of 1.13.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $431.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.46 million. Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.93% and a negative net margin of 20.75%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Banc of California

In related news, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 75,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total value of $1,050,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 719,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,077,564. This trade represents a 9.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Banc of California 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.