Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Hope Bancorp shares crossed above their 200-day moving average, trading as high as $12.18 and last changing hands at $12.13, suggesting a short-term technical improvement in the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but overall cautious: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $14.50, while recent moves included upgrades from Brean Capital and DA Davidson and a downgrade from Weiss Ratings.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations with $0.23 EPS versus $0.22 expected, and it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, implying a 4.6% annualized yield.

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $11.48 and traded as high as $12.18. Hope Bancorp shares last traded at $12.13, with a volume of 858,457 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HOPE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Hope Bancorp from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Brean Capital raised Hope Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Hope Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Hope Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $14.50.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.48. The company has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $126.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.30 million. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.32% and a net margin of 6.56%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Hope Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hope Bancorp news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of the 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Hope Bancorp by 16.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 989,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,047,000 after buying an additional 142,807 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Hope Bancorp by 33.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 19,113 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 4,748 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Hope Bancorp by 51.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,457 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 3,890 shares during the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc increased its position in Hope Bancorp by 9.9% during the first quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 2,595,281 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,989,000 after buying an additional 232,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Hope Bancorp by 3.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 496,619 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,547,000 after buying an additional 16,867 shares during the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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