Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.1667.

CWBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Community West Bancshares from $30.00 to $30.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research lowered Community West Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research note on Friday, March 27th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Community West Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Community West Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

CWBC traded down $0.29 on Friday, hitting $23.20. 141,512 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 241,534. The firm has a market capitalization of $629.51 million, a PE ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 0.82. Community West Bancshares has a 52 week low of $17.50 and a 52 week high of $25.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.05. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $38.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.23 million. On average, research analysts predict that Community West Bancshares will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 623.7% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 255.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,288 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Community West Bancshares by 75.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares in the last quarter. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Community West Bancshares Company Profile

Community West Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Community West Bank, headquartered in Goleta, California. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company offers a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services. Community West Bancshares focuses on providing personalized financial solutions to small and mid-sized businesses, professional practices, and individual customers in its service area.

The company’s product portfolio includes a variety of deposit accounts—such as business checking, savings and money market accounts—along with online and mobile banking capabilities.