Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the four analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.75.

HOPE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.50 price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David P. Malone sold 20,820 shares of the business’s 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 directly owned 66,658 shares in the company, valued at $766,567. The trade was a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 26,787 shares of company stock valued at $303,917 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.16% 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. CKW Financial Group acquired a new stake in Hope Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Hope Bancorp by 294.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,558 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 61.0% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 157.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 3,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 29.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:HOPE opened at $11.98 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $11.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.04 and a beta of 0.87. Hope Bancorp has a 52-week low of $8.82 and a 52-week high of $12.35.

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

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.74%.

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.