Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $13.09 and last traded at $13.0030, with a volume of 116962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on HOPE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Hope Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Brean Capital upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.50.

Hope Bancorp Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $12.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.69. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63 and a beta of 0.84.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $133.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.30 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 5.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 107.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hope Bancorp

In other news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total value of $150,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 373,115 shares in the company, valued at $4,675,130.95. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC purchased a new stake in Hope Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 16.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 989,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,047,000 after acquiring an additional 142,807 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 33.1% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 51.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 3,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhino Investment Partners Inc grew its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 9.9% in the first quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 2,595,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,989,000 after purchasing an additional 232,783 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

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.