First Trust Advisors LP Has $3.87 Million Stock Position in Hope Bancorp, Inc. $HOPE

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) by 90.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 346,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 164,099 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Hope Bancorp were worth $3,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 159.4% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 189,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,073,000 after acquiring an additional 116,252 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 73.5% in the 4th 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,367,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,298,000 after purchasing an additional 315,028 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 9,776.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 143,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 141,852 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Hope Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $595,000. 84.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

Hope Bancorp stock opened at $14.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.80 and a 12 month high of $14.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $13.34 and its 200-day moving average is $12.40.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 12.53%.The business had revenue of $147.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.22) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 56.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HOPE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 26,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.24, for a total value of $384,408.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 346,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,928,748.80. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp 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.