UBS Group AG Acquires 835,814 Shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. $HOPE

UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) by 73.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,972,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 835,814 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Hope Bancorp were worth $21,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Hope Bancorp by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,335,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,089,000 after buying an additional 303,019 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,494,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,683,000 after buying an additional 209,442 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,195,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,411,000 after buying an additional 188,182 shares during the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc grew its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 1,896,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,425,000 after acquiring an additional 435,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 366.8% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,340,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,434 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 373,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,675,130.95. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Brean Capital upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. DA Davidson raised their price target on Hope Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.50.

Hope Bancorp Stock Down 2.2%

Hope Bancorp stock opened at $12.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.71 and its 200-day moving average is $11.42. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.44 and a fifty-two week high of $13.02. 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) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 5.32%. The business had revenue of $126.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.30 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. Hope Bancorp’s revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Hope Bancorp Company Profile

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.