Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Short Interest Update

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, an increase of 15.7% from the May 31st total of 2,480,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 678,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Hope Bancorp Stock Up 3.3 %

HOPE stock opened at $10.74 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $10.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.99. Hope Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $8.14 and a fifty-two week high of $12.51.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.05). Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.43% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business had revenue of $123.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. Hope Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Hope Bancorp will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.21%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Angelee Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.68, for a total transaction of $44,856.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,868.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Hope Bancorp news, EVP Angelee Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.68, for a total transaction of $44,856.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,868.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven Koh sold 3,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.94, for a total value of $38,338.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,294,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,744,208.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hope Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HOPE. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 39.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp in the first quarter worth approximately $116,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,034 shares during the period. 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 Bank of Hope that provides retail and commercial banking services for businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts personal and business checking, money market, savings, time deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company also offers loans comprising commercial and industrial loans to businesses for various purposes, such as working capital, purchasing inventory, debt refinancing, business acquisitions, international trade finance, other business-related financing, and loans syndication services; commercial real estate loans; residential mortgage loans; small business administration loans; and consumer loans, such as single-family mortgage, home equity, automobile, credit card, and personal loans.