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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Hope Bancorp Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of HOPE opened at $13.45 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.12. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Hope Bancorp has a twelve month low of $9.80 and a twelve month high of $14.53.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.52% and a net margin of 9.81%. The firm had revenue of $246.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.67 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Angelee Harris sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.16, for a total transaction of $42,480.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,297.20. This trade represents a 13.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Steven Koh sold 96,620 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.33, for a total transaction of $1,287,944.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,167,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,216,416.59. This represents a 2.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 129,224 shares of company stock worth $1,737,873 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HOPE. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hope Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Hope Bancorp by 149.5% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 3,163 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Hope Bancorp during the third quarter worth $58,000. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Hope Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $108,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $112,000. Institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

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.