Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Downgraded by DA Davidson to Neutral

DA Davidson cut shares of Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. DA Davidson currently has $14.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $16.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on HOPE. Benchmark upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.50.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HOPE opened at $13.21 on Friday. Hope Bancorp has a 52 week low of $9.80 and a 52 week high of $14.59. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $13.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.87.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.29. The company had revenue of $157.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.34 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 5.97%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, November 7th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hope Bancorp news, Director Daisy Ha sold 26,995 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.24, for a total transaction of $384,408.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 346,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cim Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hope Bancorp by 210.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hope Bancorp by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 12,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $25,000. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Hope Bancorp

Hope Bancorp, Inc is the holding company for Bank of Hope, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The bank serves businesses, individuals and communities throughout the United States, with a particular focus on Korean American and other multicultural markets.

Bank of Hope offers a range of banking products and services, including business and consumer deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate financing, small business loans, residential mortgage lending and wealth management services.