Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Announces $0.12 Quarterly Dividend

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 22nd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.12 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th.

Community West Bancshares has raised its dividend by an average of 27.5% annually over the last three years. Community West Bancshares has a dividend payout ratio of 20.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Community West Bancshares to earn $2.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.9%.

Community West Bancshares Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CWBC opened at $19.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.71. 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 has a 12-month low of $15.50 and a 12-month high of $24.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $371.31 million, a P/E ratio of 37.55 and a beta of 0.91.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.07). Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 7.90%. On average, equities analysts expect that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Community West Bancshares

In other news, Director Steven D. Mcdonald sold 9,155 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.51, for a total value of $196,924.05. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 317,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,827,080.41. This trade represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased a total of 432 shares of company stock worth $8,116 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CWBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Community West Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective 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, January 27th.

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.