Boothbay Fund Management LLC Takes $437,000 Position in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 22,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $437,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Community West Bancshares at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 1,837.0% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,242,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $159,665,000 after buying an additional 7,817,372 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $725,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 689,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,358,000 after purchasing an additional 35,509 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Community West Bancshares by 6.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 389,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,499,000 after acquiring an additional 24,294 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $435,000. 33.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CWBC stock opened at $17.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.62 and a 200-day moving average of $18.99. Community West Bancshares has a one year low of $15.57 and a one year high of $22.89. The stock has a market cap of $333.57 million, a PE ratio of 33.65 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $34.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.05 million. Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.90% and a net margin of 4.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Insider Activity at Community West Bancshares

In other Community West Bancshares news, President Martin E. Plourd sold 7,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.26, for a total transaction of $148,918.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 82,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,593,514.62. This represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James J. Kim purchased 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $27,776.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 60,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,044,690.08. This represents a 2.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 8,806 shares of company stock worth $156,205. 10.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CWBC. StockNews.com upgraded Community West Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Community West Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

About Community West Bancshares

Community West Bancshares operates as the bank holding company for Community West Bank, N.A. that provides various financial products and services in California. The company offers deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and fixed rate and fixed maturity certificates of deposits; and cash management products.