Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Share Price Breaks Below 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) shares crossed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.75 and traded as low as $13.41. Hope Bancorp shares last traded at $13.58, with a volume of 2,642,753 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HOPE. Benchmark upgraded Hope Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised Hope Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered Hope Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hope Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.50.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $13.73 and its 200-day moving average is $12.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

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

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, November 7th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.85%.

Insider Activity at Hope Bancorp

In related news, Director Daisy Ha sold 26,995 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Hope Bancorp in the second quarter worth $12,098,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 4.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 315,028 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $252,703,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $6,794,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,925,000. Institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

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.