Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Stock Bumped Down to Strong Sell by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks reports.

HOPE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $16.00 to $14.00 in a report on Friday, October 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Benchmark raised shares of Hope Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hope Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Hope Bancorp Stock Up 2.5%

HOPE stock opened at $13.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Hope Bancorp has a twelve month low of $9.80 and a twelve month high of $14.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $13.69 and its 200-day moving average is $12.84.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.29. The business had revenue of $157.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.34 million. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 12.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Investors of record on Saturday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.85%.

Institutional Trading of Hope Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $252,703,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 14.5% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,438,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $156,485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448,931 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 4.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,367,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,298,000 after acquiring an additional 315,028 shares during the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc grew its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 2,595,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,989,000 after acquiring an additional 232,783 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 989,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,047,000 after acquiring an additional 142,807 shares during the period. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hope Bancorp

Hope Bancorp, Inc is the holding company for Bank of Hope, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The bank serves businesses, individuals and communities throughout the United States, with a particular focus on Korean American and other multicultural markets.

Bank of Hope offers a range of banking products and services, including business and consumer deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate financing, small business loans, residential mortgage lending and wealth management services.