Royce & Associates LP Cuts Position in Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its position in Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) by 68.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,660 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Hope Bancorp were worth $194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 66.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 170,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after buying an additional 68,460 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 893,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,218,000 after buying an additional 95,570 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 47.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,055,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,968,000 after buying an additional 337,599 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 109.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 253,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,183,000 after buying an additional 132,677 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,842,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,703,000 after buying an additional 48,237 shares during the period. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HOPE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $15.50 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas Stenger sold 4,185 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total value of $49,508.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,928.61. This trade represents a 17.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.29% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HOPE opened at $10.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.80 and a fifty-two week high of $14.54.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. Hope Bancorp had a return on equity of 4.84% and a net margin of 9.95%. Sell-side analysts expect that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.36%. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is 68.29%.

Hope Bancorp Company Profile

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.