Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Price Target Raised to $15.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hope Bancorp’s price target to $15 from $14 while maintaining a “market perform” rating, implying 5.49% upside. Analysts overall have a consensus “Hold” rating and a $15.50 target.
• Hope Bancorp shares rose 1.5% to $14.22, near their 52-week high of $14.28. The company recently reported quarterly EPS of $0.27 and revenue of $147.82 million, both slightly above analyst expectations.
• Institutional investors own approximately 84% of Hope Bancorp’s stock, while corporate insiders own 2.27%; a company director recently sold 12,000 shares.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $14.00 to $15.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "market perform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.49% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. 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. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Hope Bancorp Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Hope Bancorp stock traded up $0.21 on Monday, reaching $14.22. The company had a trading volume of 498,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 984,553. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $13.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.34. Hope Bancorp has a 1 year low of $9.70 and a 1 year high of $14.28.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 373,115 shares in the company, valued at $4,675,130.95. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Hope Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Hope Bancorp by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Hope Bancorp by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,218 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 269,046 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,950,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 60,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 1,659 shares in the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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