DA Davidson Upgrades Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) to Buy

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) was upgraded by equities researchers at DA Davidson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $12.50 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price suggests a potential upside of 21.95% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on HOPE. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hope Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.83.

Hope Bancorp Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Hope Bancorp stock opened at $10.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Hope Bancorp has a 1-year low of $7.42 and a 1-year high of $12.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 1.13.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.05). Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 6.43%. The firm had revenue of $123.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its position in Hope Bancorp by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 2,513 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hope Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $116,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Hope Bancorp by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hope Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $132,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,034 shares during the period. 84.00% of the stock is 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.