Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Five analysts give Hope Bancorp an average recommendation of Hold (three holds, two buys) with an average 1‑year price target of $14.25.
• The company beat the latest quarter—EPS $0.27 vs. $0.26 estimate and revenue $145.8M, up 23.6% year‑over‑year—and analysts project roughly $1.13 EPS for the current year.
• Hope pays a quarterly dividend of $0.14 (annualized $0.56, yield 4.5%), but the dividend payout ratio is a high 121.74%, which may indicate the payout is unsustainably elevated.

Shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the five analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.25.

Several research firms have recently commented on HOPE. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $14.50 price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Brean Capital upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 31,020 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total transaction of $387,129.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HOPE. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 294.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,428 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,558 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 375.1% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 61.0% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,968 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.00% of the company's stock.

Hope Bancorp Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:HOPE opened at $12.43 on Friday. Hope Bancorp has a 12 month low of $9.44 and a 12 month high of $12.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02 and a beta of 0.80.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 5.09%. The business had revenue of $145.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. Hope Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.74%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.