Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $22.42 and traded as high as $22.71. Community West Bancshares shares last traded at $22.55, with a volume of 105,519 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWBC has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Community West Bancshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Community West Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.33.

Community West Bancshares Trading Up 1.5%

The company has a market cap of $432.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $23.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.42.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $32.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.38 million. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 9.94%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.00%.

Institutional Trading of Community West Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWBC. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Community West Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $210,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Community West Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth $591,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in 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 worth $417,000 after buying an additional 6,369 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 46.2% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 25,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 8,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 75.6% during the second quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 10,961 shares in the last quarter. 33.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Community West Bancshares

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.