Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HOPE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Brean Capital upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Hope Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 269,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 2.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 60,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares during the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:HOPE opened at $13.37 on Friday. Hope Bancorp has a 52 week low of $9.44 and a 52 week high of $14.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.06. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71 and a beta of 0.83.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hope Bancorp will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is 107.69%.

Hope Bancorp Company Profile

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.