Critical Analysis: Banc of California (BANC) & Its Peers

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) is one of 919 publicly-traded companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Banc of California to similar businesses based on the strength of its dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Banc of California has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banc of California’s peers have a beta of 0.61, indicating that their average stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Banc of California and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banc of California	0	3	7	0	2.70
Banc of California Competitors	7494	30253	27859	1490	2.35

Banc of California presently has a consensus target price of $22.38, suggesting a potential upside of 24.48%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 14.24%. Given Banc of California’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Banc of California is more favorable than its peers.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Banc of California and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Banc of California	$1.82 billion	$228.97 million	-52.87
Banc of California Competitors	$63.01 billion	$2.42 billion	21.36

Banc of California’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Banc of California. Banc of California is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Banc of California pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Banc of California pays out -141.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 8.9% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.9% of Banc of California shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.0% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Banc of California shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Banc of California and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banc of California	-0.58%	8.51%	0.72%
Banc of California Competitors	15.63%	9.41%	0.93%

Summary

Banc of California peers beat Banc of California on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Banc of California Company Profile

Banc of California, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles. Through its banking subsidiary, Banc of California, N.A., it provides commercial banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals, with a focus on customers in California. The company offers business and consumer deposit accounts, commercial and real estate lending, and treasury management services. Its lending activities include financing for commercial real estate and businesses, along with specialized financing solutions.