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

Shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.1667.

Several brokerages have commented on CWBC. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Community West Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares from $30.00 to $30.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWBC. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 411,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,267,000 after buying an additional 104,779 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 85.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 167,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,758,000 after purchasing an additional 77,000 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 418.3% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 63,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 50,889 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 159.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 70,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 43,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 4.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 840,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,582,000 after purchasing an additional 38,044 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Community West Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of CWBC stock opened at $26.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $729.80 million, a P/E ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.82. Community West Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $18.50 and a fifty-two week high of $27.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $24.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $38.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.23 million. Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 20.77%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

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.