Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $12.35 and last traded at $12.3450, with a volume of 227184 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on HOPE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $14.50 price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Hope Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.75.

Hope Bancorp Stock Up 2.8%

The company has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $145.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.90 million. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.09% and a net margin of 5.81%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hope Bancorp

In other news, Director David P. Malone sold 20,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total value of $239,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 66,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,567. The trade was a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 26,787 shares of company stock valued at $303,917 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 366.8% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,340,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,434 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 73.5% in the fourth 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. Rhino Investment Partners Inc increased its position in Hope Bancorp by 29.8% during the third quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 1,896,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,425,000 after purchasing an additional 435,165 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Hope Bancorp by 54.2% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 877,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,419,000 after purchasing an additional 308,646 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,335,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,089,000 after purchasing an additional 303,019 shares during the last quarter. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.