StockNews.com Upgrades Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Hope Bancorp from $15.50 to $14.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HOPE traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $10.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 757,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 826,996. Hope Bancorp has a 1 year low of $8.83 and a 1 year high of $14.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.88. The business's fifty day moving average is $10.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.51.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 4.84%. The company had revenue of $217.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Hope Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 71.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HOPE. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 43.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,201,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,934,000 after acquiring an additional 1,877,820 shares in the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 1,684,886 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,707,000 after buying an additional 601,876 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 72.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,339,171 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,458,000 after buying an additional 564,014 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,055,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,968,000 after buying an additional 337,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Hope Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,451,000. 84.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hope Bancorp

Hope Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Hope that provides retail and commercial banking services for businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts personal and business checking, money market, savings, time deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company also offers loans comprising commercial and industrial loans to businesses for various purposes, such as working capital, purchasing inventory, debt refinancing, business acquisitions, international trade finance, other business-related financing, and loans syndication services; commercial real estate loans; residential mortgage loans; small business administration loans; and consumer loans, such as single-family mortgage, home equity, automobile, credit card, and personal loans.