Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.75.

HOPE has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.50 price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Brean Capital upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In related news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 31,020 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total transaction of $387,129.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hope Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 2.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,335,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,089,000 after buying an additional 303,019 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,494,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,683,000 after acquiring an additional 209,442 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,195,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,411,000 after acquiring an additional 188,182 shares in the last quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hope Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $32,838,000. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,972,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,621,000 after purchasing an additional 835,814 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp Trading Up 4.7%

Shares of Hope Bancorp stock traded up $0.53 on Wednesday, hitting $11.70. 2,654,894 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 940,291. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 25.44 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $11.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.14. Hope Bancorp has a 52 week low of $8.82 and a 52 week high of $12.79.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $145.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.90 million. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.09% and a net margin of 5.81%.Hope Bancorp’s revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Hope Bancorp will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.74%.

Hope Bancorp Company Profile

Hope Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Hope Bank, a California-chartered financial institution serving small and middle-market businesses, professionals and affluent individuals. The company’s principal activities include accepting a variety of deposit products—such as checking accounts, savings and money market accounts, and time deposits—and extending commercial credit facilities. With a focus on community banking, Hope Bancorp tailors its offerings to meet the needs of clients in diverse industries, including real estate, professional services and import/export trade.

In its lending business, Hope Bancorp provides commercial real estate loans, construction financing, working capital lines of credit and equipment financing.