Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Price Target Raised to $13.00

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) had its price target increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on HOPE. DA Davidson set a $14.50 price target on Hope Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.75.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:HOPE opened at $11.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.04 and a beta of 0.86. Hope Bancorp has a 1-year low of $8.82 and a 1-year high of $12.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $145.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.90 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 5.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David P. Malone sold 20,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total value of $239,430.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 66,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,567. This represents a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 26,787 shares of company stock valued at $303,917 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hope Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HOPE. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 269,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Hope Bancorp by 29.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Hope Bancorp by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 36,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Hope Bancorp by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 20,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 61.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

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.