Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Short Interest Up 18.7% in March

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,605,013 shares, an increase of 18.7% from the February 26th total of 3,036,247 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 767,369 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:HOPE traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,082,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 924,751. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. Hope Bancorp has a one year low of $8.82 and a one year high of $12.79.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $145.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.90 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 5.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.50 target price on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hope Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 31,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total value of $387,129.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 5.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hope Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rhino Investment Partners Inc increased its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 29.8% in the third quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 1,896,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,425,000 after buying an additional 435,165 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 877,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,419,000 after acquiring an additional 308,646 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,195,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,411,000 after acquiring an additional 188,182 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 499,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,385,000 after acquiring an additional 67,742 shares during the period. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC grew its position in Hope Bancorp by 865.2% during the 2nd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 283,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,045,000 after acquiring an additional 254,362 shares during the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.