Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.75.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research cut shares of Hope Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $14.50 target price on shares of Hope Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Brean Capital raised Hope Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HOPE traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $11.70. 2,654,894 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 940,291. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.14. Hope Bancorp has a 52 week low of $8.82 and a 52 week high of $12.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $145.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.90 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 5.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hope Bancorp will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.74%.

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In other news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 31,020 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total transaction of $387,129.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hope Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HOPE. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Hope Bancorp by 91.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 32,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 15,687 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Hope Bancorp by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 3,005 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 147.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 492,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 292,994 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Hope Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 676.8% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 227,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after buying an additional 197,877 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.