Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires 67,742 Shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. $HOPE

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 499,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 67,742 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Hope Bancorp were worth $5,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 54.2% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 877,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,419,000 after acquiring an additional 308,646 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Hope Bancorp by 147.1% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 492,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 292,994 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,006,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,264,000 after purchasing an additional 257,791 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC grew its position in Hope Bancorp by 865.2% in the 2nd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 283,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,045,000 after purchasing an additional 254,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Hope Bancorp by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,494,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,683,000 after purchasing an additional 209,442 shares during the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hope Bancorp

In related news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 31,020 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total transaction of $387,129.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Malone sold 20,820 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total transaction of $239,430.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 66,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,567. This represents a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 81,240 shares of company stock valued at $990,996 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HOPE opened at $12.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.82 and a 12-month high of $12.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.04.

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

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $14.50 price target on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Hope Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hope Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.75.

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.