Hodges Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 288.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,748,004 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,298,004 shares during the quarter. Banc of California accounts for about 1.7% of Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 1.11% of Banc of California worth $26,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BANC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,014,810 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,069,000 after acquiring an additional 5,311,842 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Banc of California by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,853,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,478 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Banc of California by 345.6% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,291,541 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayview Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Banc of California during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,297,000. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BANC. StockNews.com raised Banc of California to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush decreased their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Banc of California from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens decreased their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banc of California

In other Banc of California news, CEO Jared M. Wolff purchased 7,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.98 per share, with a total value of $99,677.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 268,695 shares in the company, valued at $3,756,356.10. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.37% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of Banc of California stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.78. The company had a trading volume of 4,918,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,840,976. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.84 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.66 and a 200 day moving average of $13.83. Banc of California, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.96 and a 52-week high of $16.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.07). Banc of California had a positive return on equity of 2.25% and a negative net margin of 29.10%. The company had revenue of $522.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $296.02 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is -12.01%.

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.