JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $27.34 Million Stock Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. $BANC

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,652,137 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 517,523 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Banc of California were worth $27,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BANC. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Banc of California by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,410,938 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,024,000 after buying an additional 957,693 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Banc of California by 8.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,796,996 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,879,000 after acquiring an additional 297,680 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 63.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,797,082 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,249,000 after acquiring an additional 698,426 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in shares of Banc of California by 101.0% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,392,277 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,561,000 after acquiring an additional 699,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Banc of California by 265.8% in the 2nd quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,365,440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,184,000 after acquiring an additional 992,154 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.88% of the company’s stock.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of BANC opened at $18.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.23. Banc of California, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $21.61.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $292.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.41 million. Banc of California had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 8.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This is a positive change from Banc of California’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Banc of California’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BANC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Banc of California from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on Banc of California from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banc of California from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Banc of California from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.86.

Banc of California Company Profile

Banc of California, N.A. is a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Santa Ana, California, offering a broad spectrum of banking products and services to corporate and individual customers. The bank focuses on serving middle-market businesses, professional service firms, real estate investors and developers, and entrepreneurs throughout California. Its core offerings include deposit accounts, treasury management services, commercial real estate lending, equipment finance, lines of credit and Small Business Administration lending, complemented by cash management and online banking solutions.

Operating a network of branches and lending offices concentrated in both Southern and Northern California, Banc of California seeks to support local businesses and communities with personalized service and regional expertise.