Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Stock Rating Raised to Hold at Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday,Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Hope Bancorp stock opened at $13.72 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.96 and a 200 day moving average of $12.92. Hope Bancorp has a 52 week low of $9.80 and a 52 week high of $14.59. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The business had revenue of $147.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.22) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hope Bancorp will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daisy Ha sold 26,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.24, for a total value of $384,408.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 346,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,928,748.80. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Hope Bancorp by 14.8% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 2,902 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in Hope Bancorp by 387.0% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 56,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,000 after buying an additional 44,848 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Hope Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 579.3% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 155,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,132,000 after acquiring an additional 132,917 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 31,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 3,831 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp Company Profile

Hope Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its principal subsidiary, Bank of Hope, provides banking and financial services to businesses, individuals and organizations, with a particular focus on small and middle-market companies and Korean American communities in the United States.

Bank of Hope offers commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, Small Business Administration loans, residential mortgage loans, consumer lending, deposit accounts and cash-management services.