Ieq Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Hope Bancorp, Inc. $HOPE

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 49,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $673,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Hope Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $252,703,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 2.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,335,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,089,000 after acquiring an additional 303,019 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 4.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,367,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,298,000 after acquiring an additional 315,028 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 3.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,494,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,683,000 after acquiring an additional 209,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Hope Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,838,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hope Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ HOPE opened at $13.93 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.80 and a fifty-two week high of $14.59.

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

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued 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 4.0%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.00%.

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In related news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 26,995 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.24, for a total transaction of $384,408.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 346,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,928,748.80. This trade represents a 7.24% 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 link. Insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

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.