StockNews.com Upgrades Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) to Sell

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

BANC has been the topic of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Banc of California from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. 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 report on Wednesday. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Banc of California in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.64.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of Banc of California stock opened at $14.32 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.30 and a beta of 1.15. Banc of California has a one year low of $9.72 and a one year high of $16.08.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.19 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 analysts’ expectations 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Banc of California will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.16 per share, with a total value of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 159,680 shares in the company, valued at $2,101,388.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jared M. Wolff bought 7,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $13.98 per share, with a total value of $99,677.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 268,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,756,356.10. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James Andrew Barker bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 159,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,101,388.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 27,130 shares of company stock valued at $445,277 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banc of California

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BANC. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Banc of California by 2,466.2% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the first quarter worth $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the first quarter worth $30,000. Lee Financial Co purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banc of California in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 86.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.