Banc Of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

https://velociraptor.cc

Banc of California had a tough year in 2017. After being recapitalized in 2010, Banc of California (f.k.a. First Pactrust) undertook a growth strategy of acquisitions and loan growth that increased its assets from about $1 billion to more than $11 billion. Then in Jan 2017, top bank officials, including the CEO who had orchestrated the bank's turnaround, were forced to resign after accusations arose of connections between them and a notorious white collar crime family. The bank ended the year with a lawsuit filed by an employee who was fired the after reporting serious breaches of financial propriety as well as rampant sex and drug use to the corporate whistleblower hotline. Changes instituted by the new bank management immediately cut profits in half in the first quarter 2017 and profits have remained relatively flat since then. At the current time, analysts do not expect to see any significant earnings growth until 2019. With a trailing p/e of 28.6, it would seem that much of the expected 2019 results is already included in the current stock price. If analysts' expectations come true, then I would expect my current long-term CAPS pick would return to green in 1-2 years. Current dividend yield is 2.55%.