Community West Bancshares (CWBC) – What Are Analysts Saying About This Stock?

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.83.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson raised their price target on Community West Bancshares from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Benchmark upgraded Community West Bancshares to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th.

Community West Bancshares Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CWBC opened at $25.97 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $704.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.86. Community West Bancshares has a 12-month low of $21.12 and a 12-month high of $28.17.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.79 million. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 11.14%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at Community West Bancshares

In other news, Director Jagroop Gill bought 4,770 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $24.88 per share, for a total transaction of $118,677.60. Following the purchase, the director owned 588,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,631,106.96. This represents a 0.82% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have acquired 5,374 shares of company stock valued at $133,078 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Community West Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $64,110,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 275.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,516,000 after acquiring an additional 833,312 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,091,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,039,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,896,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

About Community West Bancshares

Community West Bancshares is a bank holding company headquartered in Goleta, California. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Community West Bank, the company provides banking and financial services primarily to businesses, professionals, nonprofit organizations and individuals.

Community West Bank offers commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate loans, construction financing, Small Business Administration lending and residential mortgage products. Its deposit and business banking services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, online banking, cash management and other treasury management solutions.

The company serves customers through offices and banking operations focused on California’s Central Coast, including the Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo areas.