Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Stock Price

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $13.00 to $12.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 2.74% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on HOPE. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Hope Bancorp from $15.50 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

Hope Bancorp Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HOPE opened at $11.68 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.64 and a 200-day moving average of $12.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90 and a beta of 1.16. Hope Bancorp has a twelve month low of $9.80 and a twelve month high of $14.53.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.52% and a net margin of 9.81%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hope Bancorp

In other news, Director Steven Koh sold 96,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.33, for a total value of $1,287,944.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,167,023 shares in the company, valued at $42,216,416.59. This represents a 2.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Angelee Harris sold 3,000 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.16, for a total value of $42,480.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,795 shares in the company, valued at $280,297.20. This represents a 13.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,224 shares of company stock valued at $1,737,873. 5.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HOPE. State Street Corp grew its position in Hope Bancorp by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,152,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,277,000 after purchasing an additional 112,824 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,553,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,192,000 after buying an additional 1,054,124 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,842,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,703,000 after acquiring an additional 48,237 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,346,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,468,000 after acquiring an additional 33,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,055,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,968,000 after acquiring an additional 337,599 shares in 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 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.