Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) Short Interest Up 14.0% in April

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,510,000 shares, an increase of 14.0% from the March 31st total of 9,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Banc of California Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE BANC traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $14.08. 2,245,872 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,474,730. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.23 and a beta of 1.15. Banc of California has a 52-week low of $9.72 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $14.48 and its 200-day moving average is $13.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $522.57 million for 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 business earned $0.37 EPS. Analysts expect that Banc of California will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Banc of California’s payout ratio is -12.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jared M. Wolff acquired 7,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.98 per share, for a total transaction of $99,677.40. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 268,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,756,356.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jared M. Wolff acquired 7,130 shares of Banc of California stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.98 per share, with a total value of $99,677.40. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 268,695 shares in the company, valued at $3,756,356.10. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James Andrew Barker bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.16 per share, for a total transaction of $131,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 159,680 shares in the company, valued at $2,101,388.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 27,130 shares of company stock worth $445,277 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Banc of California by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,014,810 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,069,000 after buying an additional 5,311,842 shares during the period. Bayview Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Banc of California during the fourth quarter worth about $27,297,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Banc of California by 148.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,997,802 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791,992 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 345.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,291,541 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777,330 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Banc of California by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,853,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,478 shares during the period. 86.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BANC. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price target on Banc of California from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Banc of California from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial dropped 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Banc of California to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.64.

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.