DA Davidson Reaffirms Buy Rating for Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE)

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by DA Davidson in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $14.50 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. DA Davidson’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 20.93% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on HOPE. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hope Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.75.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of HOPE opened at $11.99 on Wednesday. Hope Bancorp has a one year low of $8.82 and a one year high of $12.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07 and a beta of 0.86.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 5.09%. The firm had revenue of $145.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hope Bancorp

In other news, Director David P. Malone sold 20,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total transaction of $239,430.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 66,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,567. This represents a 23.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 26,787 shares of company stock valued at $303,917 over the last ninety days. 5.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 2.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,335,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,089,000 after buying an additional 303,019 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,494,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,683,000 after acquiring an additional 209,442 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,195,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,411,000 after acquiring an additional 188,182 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Hope Bancorp by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,986,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,050,000 after acquiring an additional 68,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,972,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,621,000 after acquiring an additional 835,814 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

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.