Brokerages Set Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Price Target at $14.50

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.50.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HOPE. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Brean Capital upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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 upped their target price on Hope Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th.

Insider Activity at Hope Bancorp

In related news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total value 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. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HOPE. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 91.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 32,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 15,687 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 3,005 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 147.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 492,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 292,994 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $297,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Hope Bancorp by 676.8% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 227,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 197,877 shares in the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Hope Bancorp stock opened at $12.84 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.84. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Hope Bancorp has a 1 year low of $9.44 and a 1 year high of $13.28.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $133.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.30 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 5.32%. Hope Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio 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.