Swiss National Bank Reduces Stock Holdings in Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 257,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.22% of Hope Bancorp worth $2,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Hope Bancorp by 51.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 3,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Hope Bancorp by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 118,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,904,000 after purchasing an additional 4,897 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Hope Bancorp by 39.8% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 19,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 5,651 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Hope Bancorp by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 70,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 25,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Hope Bancorp by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 61,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 25,417 shares during the last quarter. 83.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on HOPE shares. TheStreet upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, August 14th. StockNews.com raised Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $9.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ HOPE opened at $9.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.20. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.42 and a twelve month high of $14.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.58 and a 200 day moving average of $9.69.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $147.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.07 million. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 18.78%. Hope Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.67%. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 36.60%.

Hope Bancorp Company Profile

Hope Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Hope that provides banking services for small and medium-sized businesses, and individuals in the United States. It accepts personal and business checking, money market, savings, time deposit, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan products include commercial loans to businesses for various purposes, such as working capital, purchasing inventory, debt refinancing, business acquisitions, and other business-related financing needs; real estate loans; small business administration loans; and consumer loans, such as single-family mortgage, home equity, auto, credit card, and personal loans.