Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $22.48 and traded as high as $22.81. Community West Bancshares shares last traded at $22.63, with a volume of 66,334 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CWBC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Community West Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Community West Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.33.

Community West Bancshares Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $433.82 million, a PE ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 9.94%. The company had revenue of $32.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.38 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 802,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,054,000 after buying an additional 16,370 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in Community West Bancshares by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 411,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,267,000 after buying an additional 104,779 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 334,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,522,000 after buying an additional 16,340 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 167,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,758,000 after buying an additional 77,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 164,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,980 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, 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.