Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Holdings in Hope Bancorp, Inc. $HOPE

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) by 9,776.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 141,852 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Hope Bancorp were worth $1,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HOPE. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hope Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 294.0% in the 1st 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 period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 375.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 2,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 157.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 3,071 shares in the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HOPE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Hope Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Brean Capital upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. DA Davidson raised their target price on Hope Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 373,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,675,130.95. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of HOPE stock opened at $13.44 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.23. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85 and a beta of 0.83. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.44 and a fifty-two week high of $14.05.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $133.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp 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.