Hope Bancorp’s (HOPE) Buy Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reiterated their buy rating on shares of Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $14.50 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

HOPE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.75.

Hope Bancorp Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ HOPE opened at $11.98 on Wednesday. Hope Bancorp has a 52-week low of $8.82 and a 52-week high of $12.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.88. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.04 and a beta of 0.86.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 5.09%. The business had revenue of $145.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 121.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David P. Malone sold 20,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total value of $239,430.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 66,658 shares in the company, valued at $766,567. This trade represents a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 26,787 shares of company stock worth $303,917 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CKW Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of Hope Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 294.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,558 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 61.0% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 157.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 29.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Hope Bancorp

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.