Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $12.35 and last traded at $12.3450, with a volume of 227184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HOPE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $14.50 price target on shares of Hope Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hope Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.75.

Hope Bancorp Stock Up 2.6%

The company has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $145.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.90 million. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.09% and a net margin of 5.81%.The firm’s revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hope Bancorp news, Director David P. Malone sold 20,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total transaction of $239,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 66,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,567. The trade was a 23.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,787 shares of company stock valued at $303,917. Company insiders own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 2.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,739,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,664,000 after acquiring an additional 48,394 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Hope Bancorp by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,006,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,264,000 after purchasing an additional 257,791 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Hope Bancorp by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,986,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,050,000 after purchasing an additional 68,620 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 877,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,419,000 after purchasing an additional 308,646 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Hope Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $359,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

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.