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

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $13.25 and last traded at $13.2280, with a volume of 376 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $13.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.20 and a beta of 0.84. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $12.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.77.

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

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 107.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hope Bancorp

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Hope Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $32,838,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Hope Bancorp by 366.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,340,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,439,000 after buying an additional 1,053,434 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Hope Bancorp by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,972,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,621,000 after buying an additional 835,814 shares during the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc grew its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 1,896,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,425,000 after acquiring an additional 435,165 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 44.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,310,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,368,000 after acquiring an additional 404,505 shares during the period. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.