Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Receives $14.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.50.

HOPE has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Hope Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Brean Capital upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Hope Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st.

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In other Hope Bancorp news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total transaction of $150,360.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 373,115 shares in the company, valued at $4,675,130.95. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HOPE. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 62.7% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 3,023 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $201,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 16.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 989,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,047,000 after purchasing an additional 142,807 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 19,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 4,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 51.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 3,890 shares during the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hope Bancorp Trading Up 2.8%

HOPE stock opened at $13.98 on Friday. Hope Bancorp has a one year low of $9.44 and a one year high of $14.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted 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 company had revenue of $133.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. Hope Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 107.69%.

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.