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

Shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.50.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HOPE. DA Davidson increased their price target on Hope Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Brean Capital upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Hope Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st.

Insider Activity at Hope Bancorp

In other Hope Bancorp news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total transaction of $150,360.00. Following the sale, the director owned 373,115 shares in the company, valued at $4,675,130.95. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 purchasing an additional 142,807 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 19,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 4,748 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 51.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 3,890 shares during the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc grew its position in 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 worth $28,989,000 after acquiring an additional 232,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 3.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 496,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,547,000 after buying an additional 16,867 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

HOPE stock opened at $12.38 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.49. Hope Bancorp has a 52-week low of $9.44 and a 52-week high of $13.02. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.81 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.32% and a net margin of 6.56%.The company had revenue of $126.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.30 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 107.69%.

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.