New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 195,196 Shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. $HOPE

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in Hope Bancorp by 94.7% in the first quarter, selling 195,196 shares and leaving it with 10,971 shares valued at about $123,000.
• Analysts are mixed but slightly improving on the stock: several firms raised price targets or upgraded ratings, and the consensus view remains Hold with an average price target of $14.50.
• Hope Bancorp reported quarterly EPS of $0.23, beating estimates by $0.01, while revenue came in below expectations at $133.82 million; the company also paid a $0.14 quarterly dividend for a 4.2% yield.

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE - Free Report) by 94.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,971 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 195,196 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System's holdings in Hope Bancorp were worth $123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Hope Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Hope Bancorp by 294.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,428 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,558 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 375.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 157.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Zacks Research upgraded Hope Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings raised Hope Bancorp from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Brean Capital upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hope Bancorp has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $14.50.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HOPE opened at $13.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.75 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.44 and a fifty-two week high of $14.05.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $133.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Hope Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 107.69%.

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In other Hope Bancorp news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total transaction of $150,360.00. Following the sale, the director owned 373,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,675,130.95. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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