Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) EVP Angelee Harris Sells 3,200 Shares of Stock

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) EVP Angelee Harris sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.10, for a total transaction of $41,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 27,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,931.20. The trade was a 10.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HOPE traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $13.02. 729,032 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,282,449. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.80 and a fifty-two week high of $14.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.89. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29. The company had revenue of $157.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.34 million. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 12.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, November 7th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is 53.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on HOPE shares. Benchmark raised Hope Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. DA Davidson cut shares of Hope Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $16.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hope Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Zacks Research cut shares of Hope Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Hope Bancorp from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Hope Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $12,098,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 4.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,367,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,298,000 after buying an additional 315,028 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hope Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $252,703,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hope Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $6,794,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Hope Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $3,925,000. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Hope Bancorp

Hope Bancorp, Inc. is the bank holding company for Bank of Hope, a commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. Bank of Hope was formed in 2016 through the merger of BBCN Bank and Wilshire Bank, bringing together institutions with roots in serving Korean-American communities. The bank provides deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, and other banking services to individuals and businesses. Its offerings include commercial real estate and business loans, small-business lending, treasury management, and online and mobile banking.