Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Director Sells $384,408.80 in Stock

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Director Daisy Ha sold 26,995 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.24, for a total value of $384,408.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 346,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,928,748.80. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of HOPE traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $14.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,477,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,068,484. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.38. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.80 and a fifty-two week high of $14.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 12.53%.The firm had revenue of $147.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.22) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 56.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 91.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 32,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 15,687 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 3,005 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 147.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 492,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 292,994 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in Hope Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $297,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Hope Bancorp by 676.8% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 227,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 197,877 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on HOPE shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.50.

About Hope Bancorp

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.