Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Holdings Reduced by Hollencrest Capital Management

Hollencrest Capital Management decreased its position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,266 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 17,514 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management owned approximately 0.06% of Banc of California worth $1,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Banc of California in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Banc of California by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 205.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,348 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,286 shares of the bank’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the 4th quarter worth approximately $135,000. Institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BANC. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Banc of California in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Five equities 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.18.

Banc of California Stock Up 3.0 %

Banc of California stock opened at $13.33 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.42. Banc of California, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.88 and a fifty-two week high of $18.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.05. Banc of California had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 6.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Banc of California’s payout ratio 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.