KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Reduces Stock Position in Hope Bancorp, Inc. $HOPE

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS reduced its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,300 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Hope Bancorp were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HOPE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 43.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,201,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,934,000 after buying an additional 1,877,820 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Hope Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,451,000. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 318.8% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 420,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,403,000 after purchasing an additional 320,091 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 292,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $2,312,000. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

Hope Bancorp Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:HOPE opened at $10.23 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.47. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.82 and a 12 month high of $14.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23 and a beta of 0.92.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.43). Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 4.45% and a net margin of 4.27%.The company had revenue of $94.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $133.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 160.00%.

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In related news, EVP Angelee Harris sold 3,500 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.02, for a total transaction of $38,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $267,135.82. This trade represents a 12.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,102 shares of company stock worth $76,068. Company insiders own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

About Hope Bancorp

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.