Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of HOPE stock opened at $13.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.77. Hope Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $9.02 and a fifty-two week high of $14.53.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.01). Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.52% and a net margin of 9.81%. The company had revenue of $246.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hope Bancorp will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hope Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas Stenger sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.40, for a total value of $39,680.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,952 shares in the company, valued at $321,804.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hope Bancorp news, EVP Thomas Stenger sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.40, for a total value of $39,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,804.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 27,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.83, for a total value of $374,848.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 446,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,179,326.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,185 shares of company stock worth $714,130. Insiders own 5.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,319,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,605,000 after acquiring an additional 218,302 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,346,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,468,000 after purchasing an additional 33,689 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 232.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,333,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,065,000 after buying an additional 1,632,384 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,000,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,488,000 after buying an additional 296,469 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,229,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,994,000 after buying an additional 51,207 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp Company Profile

Hope Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Hope that provides retail and commercial banking services for businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts personal and business checking, money market, savings, time deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company also offers loans comprising commercial and industrial loans to businesses for various purposes, such as working capital, purchasing inventory, debt refinancing, business acquisitions, international trade finance, other business-related financing, and loans syndication services; commercial real estate loans; residential mortgage loans; small business administration loans; and consumer loans, such as single-family mortgage, home equity, automobile, credit card, and personal loans.