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

Shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.50.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Brean Capital upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HOPE opened at $12.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69 and a beta of 0.84. Hope Bancorp has a 52 week low of $9.44 and a 52 week high of $13.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $12.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.84.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $133.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.30 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 5.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 107.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hope Bancorp

In other news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total transaction of $150,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 373,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,675,130.95. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhino Investment Partners Inc grew its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 1,896,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,425,000 after acquiring an additional 435,165 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 159.4% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 189,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,073,000 after buying an additional 116,252 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,972,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,621,000 after buying an additional 835,814 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 499,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,385,000 after buying an additional 67,742 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 188,182 shares during the period. 84.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.