Hope Bancorp, Inc. $HOPE Shares Acquired by AlphaQuest LLC

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC increased its Hope Bancorp stake by 159.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 116,252 additional shares and ending with 189,175 shares worth about $2.07 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding about 84% of the company. Several other firms, including Millennium Management and UBS Group, also boosted their positions.
• Hope Bancorp reported quarterly EPS of $0.23, edging past estimates, while revenue came in below expectations at $133.82 million. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, yielding about 4.5%.

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE - Free Report) by 159.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 189,175 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 116,252 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Hope Bancorp worth $2,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HOPE. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 366.8% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,340,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,439,000 after buying an additional 1,053,434 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,972,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,621,000 after buying an additional 835,814 shares during the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc increased its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 29.8% in the third quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 1,896,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,425,000 after buying an additional 435,165 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 2.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,335,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $122,089,000 after buying an additional 303,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 24.1% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,175,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,659,000 after buying an additional 227,931 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HOPE shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Brean Capital upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $14.50.

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In related news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total transaction of $150,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 373,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,675,130.95. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hope Bancorp Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ HOPE opened at $12.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.15 and a beta of 0.84. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.44 and a 52-week high of $13.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $133.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $145.30 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 5.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Hope Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 107.69%.

Hope Bancorp Company Profile

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.

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