Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Director Sells 26,995 Shares

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Director Daisy Ha sold 26,995 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,928,748.80. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Hope Bancorp Trading Up 1.2%

HOPE stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $14.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,477,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,068,484. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.83. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.80 and a 52-week high of $14.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $147.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.50 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 5.71%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.22) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 56.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HOPE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 159.4% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 189,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,073,000 after purchasing an additional 116,252 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its holdings 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 worth $21,621,000 after buying an additional 835,814 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,367,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,298,000 after buying an additional 315,028 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 9,776.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 143,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after acquiring an additional 141,852 shares during the period. Finally, Rhino Investment Partners Inc lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 2,595,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,989,000 after acquiring an additional 232,783 shares during the period. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.