Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Hope Bancorp Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of Hope Bancorp stock opened at $12.81 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.13. Hope Bancorp has a 52-week low of $8.15 and a 52-week high of $13.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.44.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company had revenue of $116.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.27 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 10.02% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David P. Malone sold 10,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.71, for a total transaction of $132,539.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 109,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,397,985.61. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director David P. Malone sold 10,428 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.71, for a total transaction of $132,539.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 109,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,397,985.61. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas Stenger sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.40, for a total transaction of $39,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $321,804.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,831 shares of company stock worth $323,657 in the last three months. 5.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hope Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 2.0% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 60,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 15.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 167,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 32,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 105,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422 shares during the period. 84.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Hope Bancorp

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.