Insider Selling: Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Director Sells $384,408.80 in Stock

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Director Daisy Ha sold 26,995 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.24, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Hope Bancorp Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:HOPE opened at $13.95 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $13.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 0.83. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.80 and a 1 year high of $14.48.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 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 net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The company had revenue of $147.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.22) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on HOPE. DA Davidson raised their price target on Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hope Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Hope Bancorp by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Hope Bancorp by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 269,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 2.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 60,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares in the last quarter. 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.