Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts remain neutral on Hope Bancorp: Five firms give the stock a consensus “Hold” rating, with three holds and two buys, and an average 12-month price target of $15.50.
• Quarterly results modestly exceeded expectations: Hope Bancorp reported EPS of $0.27 versus the $0.26 consensus estimate and revenue of $147.82 million, above forecasts. Shares opened at $14.19, near their 52-week high of $14.28.
• Shareholders will receive a quarterly dividend of $0.14: The annualized dividend is $0.56 per share, representing a yield of about 3.9%, with payment scheduled for August 20 to shareholders of record as of August 6.

Shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Hope Bancorp from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total value of $150,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 159.4% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 189,175 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,073,000 after purchasing an additional 116,252 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,972,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,621,000 after purchasing an additional 835,814 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,367,855 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $82,298,000 after buying an additional 315,028 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 9,776.2% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 143,303 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,601,000 after buying an additional 141,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhino Investment Partners Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 9.9% in the first quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 2,595,281 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,989,000 after buying an additional 232,783 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.00% of the company's stock.

Hope Bancorp Stock Up 1.3%

HOPE stock opened at $14.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $13.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.36. Hope Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $9.70 and a fifty-two week high of $14.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The firm had revenue of $147.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.22) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hope Bancorp will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Hope Bancorp's payout ratio is 56.00%.

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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