Principal Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Community West Bancshares $CWBC

Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 33,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $781,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares in the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 623.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Community West Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Community West Bancshares by 75.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Community West Bancshares by 2,945.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CWBC has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Community West Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Community West Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.17.

Community West Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ CWBC opened at $25.03 on Friday. Community West Bancshares has a 12 month low of $18.50 and a 12 month high of $28.17. The stock has a market cap of $679.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $48.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.65 million. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 16.86% and a return on equity of 11.35%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is 25.95%.

Community West Bancshares 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.