Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th.

Hope Bancorp Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Hope Bancorp stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $13.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 66,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,493. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 1.13. Hope Bancorp has a one year low of $9.45 and a one year high of $14.53.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.01). Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 5.52%. The company had revenue of $246.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Hope Bancorp will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In other news, Director David P. Malone sold 10,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.71, for a total transaction of $132,539.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 109,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,397,985.61. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 27,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.83, for a total transaction of $374,848.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 446,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,179,326.98. The trade was a 5.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,985 shares of company stock worth $674,450 in the last quarter. Insiders own 5.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,319,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,605,000 after acquiring an additional 218,302 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Hope Bancorp by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,346,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,468,000 after buying an additional 33,689 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 232.7% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,333,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,065,000 after buying an additional 1,632,384 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,000,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,488,000 after buying an additional 296,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 4.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,229,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,994,000 after purchasing an additional 51,207 shares in the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hope Bancorp

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.