Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the December 15th total of 2,110,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 724,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hope Bancorp Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of HOPE opened at $12.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.60. Hope Bancorp has a 52-week low of $9.80 and a 52-week high of $14.53.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.01). Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 5.52%. The business had revenue of $246.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hope Bancorp will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Activity

In other Hope Bancorp news, EVP Angelee Harris sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.16, for a total transaction of $42,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,795 shares in the company, valued at $280,297.20. This represents a 13.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 27,104 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.83, for a total value of $374,848.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 446,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,179,326.98. The trade was a 5.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 129,224 shares of company stock worth $1,737,873. Corporate insiders own 5.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hope Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Hope Bancorp by 66.8% in 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 9.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 648,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,140,000 after acquiring an additional 53,587 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 12.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 893,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,218,000 after acquiring an additional 95,570 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Hope Bancorp by 109.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 253,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 132,677 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $35,703,000 after purchasing an additional 48,237 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

About Hope Bancorp

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.