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

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, a growth 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. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised Hope Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

HOPE stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $12.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 495,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 616,380. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company's 50 day moving average is $12.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.58. Hope Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $9.80 and a fifty-two week high of $14.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 1.16.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $246.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.67 million. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 5.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Hope Bancorp will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. Hope Bancorp's payout ratio is 66.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Angelee Harris sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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 owns 19,795 shares in the company, valued at $280,297.20. This represents a 13.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven Koh sold 96,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.33, for a total transaction of $1,287,944.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,167,023 shares in the company, valued at $42,216,416.59. This represents a 2.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,224 shares of company stock worth $1,737,873. Company insiders own 5.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hope Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 68,460 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hope Bancorp by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 648,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,140,000 after buying an additional 53,587 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 grew 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 acquiring an additional 132,677 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Hope Bancorp by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,842,056 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,703,000 after acquiring an additional 48,237 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.