Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.50 price target on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

HOPE opened at $12.68 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.90. Hope Bancorp has a 1 year low of $8.82 and a 1 year high of $12.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 0.87.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 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 $145.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.90 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 5.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. Research analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.74%.

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In related news, Director David P. Malone sold 20,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total value of $239,430.00. Following the sale, the director owned 66,658 shares in the company, valued at $766,567. This represents a 23.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,787 shares of company stock valued at $303,917. Company insiders own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 366.8% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,340,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,434 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Hope Bancorp by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,972,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,621,000 after purchasing an additional 835,814 shares during the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc grew its stake in Hope Bancorp by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 1,896,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,425,000 after buying an additional 435,165 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Hope Bancorp by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 877,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,419,000 after buying an additional 308,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,335,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,089,000 after buying an additional 303,019 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.