Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.3333.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research raised Community West Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. DA Davidson increased their price target on Community West Bancshares from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Community West Bancshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st.

Community West Bancshares Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CWBC opened at $22.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $428.18 million, a P/E ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.92. Community West Bancshares has a 1 year low of $15.57 and a 1 year high of $24.36.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company had revenue of $37.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.75 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Community West Bancshares in the first quarter worth $591,000. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Community West Bancshares by 110.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 25,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 13,560 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 49,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 3,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 42.5% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 6,369 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

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.