First Dallas Securities Inc. Takes $608,000 Position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

First Dallas Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 40,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $608,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Banc of California by 2,466.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,899 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,825 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Banc of California in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Banc of California in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Lee Financial Co purchased a new stake in Banc of California in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Banc of California in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BANC traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $12.78. 4,918,583 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,840,976. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of -3.84 and a beta of 1.15. Banc of California, Inc. has a one year low of $9.96 and a one year high of $16.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is $13.66 and its 200 day moving average is $13.83.

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

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is presently -12.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BANC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Banc of California to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Banc of California from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Banc of California news, CEO Jared M. Wolff bought 7,130 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.98 per share, for a total transaction of $99,677.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 268,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,756,356.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 7.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.