Insider Selling: Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) EVP Sells $22,770.00 in Stock

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) EVP Thomas Stenger sold 1,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.80, for a total transaction of $22,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,796.40. This represents a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:HOPE traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $13.82. 527,766 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 765,755. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.83. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.80 and a twelve month high of $14.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $13.87 and its 200-day moving average is $12.74.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The business had revenue of $147.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.22) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 56.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Hope Bancorp by 6.2% during 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 lifted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 5.1% during 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 in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 2.8% during 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. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 18.0% in the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 12,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. 84.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HOPE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Hope Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.50.

About Hope Bancorp

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.