Short Interest in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Decreases By 6.8%

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 226,800 shares, a decrease of 6.8% from the October 15th total of 243,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 37,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CWBC. StockNews.com lowered Community West Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th.

Community West Bancshares Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of CWBC opened at $20.71 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.78. Community West Bancshares has a 12 month low of $15.50 and a 12 month high of $24.47. The company has a market capitalization of $392.45 million, a PE ratio of 31.36 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.73%.

Insider Transactions at Community West Bancshares

In related news, Director Robert Bartlein acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.75 per share, with a total value of $37,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 433,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,135,175. This trade represents a 0.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 2,550 shares of company stock valued at $46,097. 11.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fourthstone LLC lifted its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 8.7% in the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 1,868,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,993,000 after buying an additional 149,506 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 474,671 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 557,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,313,000 after purchasing an additional 27,967 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Community West Bancshares by 6.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 389,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,499,000 after purchasing an additional 24,294 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings 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 worth $6,770,000 after purchasing an additional 243,165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.