Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Downgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Hope Bancorp Stock Up 1.7 %

HOPE opened at $12.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.39. Hope Bancorp has a 1-year low of $8.15 and a 1-year high of $13.59. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 1.13.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 10.02% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The company had revenue of $116.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Hope Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Hope Bancorp news, Director David P. Malone sold 10,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.71, for a total value of $132,539.88. Following the sale, the director now owns 109,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,397,985.61. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director David P. Malone sold 10,428 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.71, for a total transaction of $132,539.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 109,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,397,985.61. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jinho Doo sold 10,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.40, for a total transaction of $132,717.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,538 shares in the company, valued at $267,071.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,831 shares of company stock worth $323,657. 5.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,730,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,864,000 after buying an additional 115,826 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 3.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,319,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,605,000 after acquiring an additional 218,302 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 232.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,333,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,065,000 after purchasing an additional 1,632,384 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Hope Bancorp by 17.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,000,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,488,000 after purchasing an additional 296,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Hope Bancorp by 4.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,229,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,994,000 after purchasing an additional 51,207 shares in the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hope Bancorp Company Profile

Hope Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Hope that provides retail and commercial banking services for businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts personal and business checking, money market, savings, time deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company also offers loans comprising commercial and industrial loans to businesses for various purposes, such as working capital, purchasing inventory, debt refinancing, business acquisitions, international trade finance, other business-related financing, and loans syndication services; commercial real estate loans; residential mortgage loans; small business administration loans; and consumer loans, such as single-family mortgage, home equity, automobile, credit card, and personal loans.