Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Rating Lowered to “Neutral” at DA Davidson

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) was downgraded by investment analysts at DA Davidson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Friday, Briefing.com reports. They presently have a $14.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. DA Davidson‘s target price points to a potential upside of 3.09% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on HOPE. Benchmark upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.50.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HOPE opened at $13.58 on Friday. Hope Bancorp has a twelve month low of $9.80 and a twelve month high of $14.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.87.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.29. The firm had revenue of $157.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.34 million. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 12.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp will post 1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daisy Ha sold 26,995 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.24, for a total value of $384,408.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $12,098,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 4.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,367,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,298,000 after purchasing an additional 315,028 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Hope Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $252,703,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Hope Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $3,925,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Hope Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $6,794,000. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hope Bancorp Company Profile

Hope Bancorp, Inc is the holding company for Bank of Hope, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The bank serves businesses, individuals and communities throughout the United States, with a particular focus on Korean American and other multicultural markets.

Bank of Hope offers a range of banking products and services, including business and consumer deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate financing, small business loans, residential mortgage lending and wealth management services.