Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.50.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 26,995 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.24, for a total transaction of $384,408.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 346,120 shares in the company, valued at $4,928,748.80. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Hope Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 294.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,558 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 375.1% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Hope Bancorp stock opened at $13.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.80 and its 200 day moving average is $12.64. Hope Bancorp has a one year low of $9.80 and a one year high of $14.59.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $147.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.50 million. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 12.53%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.22) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 56.00%.

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.