A&I Financial Services LLC Invests $242,000 in Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE)

A&I Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 19,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 48,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Hope Bancorp by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,534 shares during the period. 84.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on HOPE. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Hope Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.88.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

HOPE stock opened at $10.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.46. Hope Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.80 and a 12-month high of $14.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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, equities analysts predict that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is 68.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas Stenger sold 4,185 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $227,928.61. The trade was a 17.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.29% 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.