Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on CWBC. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Community West Bancshares from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Community West Bancshares Stock Up 0.1 %

CWBC stock opened at $19.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $367.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38 and a beta of 0.92. Community West Bancshares has a twelve month low of $15.50 and a twelve month high of $24.47. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.07). Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 8.14%. Analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven D. Mcdonald sold 9,155 shares of Community West Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.51, for a total value of $196,924.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 317,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,827,080.41. The trade was a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Bartlein purchased 2,000 shares of Community West Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.75 per share, for a total transaction of $37,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 433,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,135,175. This represents a 0.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 2,432 shares of company stock valued at $45,616. 11.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 284.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 641,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,864,000 after buying an additional 474,671 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Community West Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,153,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Community West Bancshares by 198.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 365,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,770,000 after acquiring an additional 243,165 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP acquired a new position in Community West Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,842,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Community West Bancshares during the third quarter worth $132,000. Institutional investors own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

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.