Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 26,548 Shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 674,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,548 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.56% of Hope Bancorp worth $8,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 31.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 8.5% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 3.7% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 48,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 1,744 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Hope Bancorp by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 13.6% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 2,534 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HOPE. StockNews.com upgraded Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. DA Davidson reduced their target price 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Insider Transactions at Hope Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas Stenger sold 4,185 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total transaction of $49,508.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,928.61. This trade represents a 17.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.29% of the company’s stock.

Hope Bancorp Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Hope Bancorp stock opened at $10.92 on Friday. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.80 and a 1 year high of $14.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.46.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.13%. Hope Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.29%.

Hope Bancorp 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.