Swiss National Bank Has $4.33 Million Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Swiss National Bank increased its position in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 280,214 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $4,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Banc of California by 34.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 242,534 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,573,000 after buying an additional 62,014 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Banc of California during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Banc of California by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,252,528 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,364,000 after acquiring an additional 19,076 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 247,116 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,640,000 after purchasing an additional 63,780 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Banc of California in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $360,000. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BANC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Banc of California in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Banc of California from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their price target on Banc of California from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Banc of California has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.18.

Banc of California Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:BANC opened at $14.55 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.18 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of 25.98 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Banc of California Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.