Brokerages Set Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Price Target at $15.50

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.50.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HOPE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th.

Hope Bancorp Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Hope Bancorp stock opened at $14.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Hope Bancorp has a 1 year low of $9.80 and a 1 year high of $14.59. The company has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.70.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $147.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.50 million. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 12.53%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.22) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is 56.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hope Bancorp

In other news, Director Daisy Ha sold 26,995 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.24, for a total value of $384,408.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 346,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,928,748.80. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Hope Bancorp by 91.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 32,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 15,687 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after buying an additional 3,005 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 147.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 492,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,153,000 after buying an additional 292,994 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Hope Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $297,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 676.8% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 227,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 197,877 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

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.