Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 12,700 Shares of Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 30.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 29,616 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 12,700 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BANC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the first quarter valued at $123,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Banc of California by 9.1% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,783 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Banc of California by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,802 shares of the bank’s stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Banc of California by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,393 shares of the bank’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 1,898 shares during the last quarter. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BANC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Banc of California from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $21.50 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Banc of California from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banc of California currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.25.

Banc of California Stock Up 0.1%

BANC stock opened at $18.44 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $17.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73 and a beta of 0.75. Banc of California, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $18.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $315.66 million for the quarter. Banc of California had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 8.00%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.46%.

Insider Transactions at Banc of California

In other Banc of California news, insider Hamid Hussain sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.59, for a total transaction of $331,800.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 66,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,102,305.96. This trade represents a 23.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.69% of the company’s stock.

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.