Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $8.83 and last traded at $8.89, with a volume of 245622 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Hope Bancorp from $15.50 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.04.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 4.84% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.74%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas Stenger sold 4,185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total transaction of $49,508.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,928.61. This represents a 17.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HOPE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,553,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,124 shares during the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc raised its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 1,684,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,707,000 after buying an additional 601,876 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 72.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,339,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,458,000 after buying an additional 564,014 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Hope Bancorp by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,055,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,968,000 after buying an additional 337,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Hope Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $4,001,000. 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.