SG Americas Securities LLC Decreases Stake in Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) by 35.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,243 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Hope Bancorp were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HOPE. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Hope Bancorp during the third quarter worth $48,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Hope Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In other Hope Bancorp news, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 27,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.83, for a total transaction of $374,848.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 446,806 shares in the company, valued at $6,179,326.98. This represents a 5.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas Stenger sold 4,185 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total transaction of $49,508.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,928.61. The trade was a 17.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 132,159 shares of company stock worth $1,771,756 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.29% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of HOPE opened at $11.70 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.62. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.80 and a 12-month high of $14.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.15.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 4.84%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.29%.

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.