Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Price Target to $22.00

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) had its price target reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $24.00 to $22.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Community West Bancshares Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of CWBC opened at $19.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Community West Bancshares has a 1-year low of $15.50 and a 1-year high of $24.47. The stock has a market cap of $363.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.72.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.07). Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.14% and a net margin of 4.53%. Equities analysts forecast that Community West Bancshares will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Community West Bancshares news, Director Robert Bartlein purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.75 per share, for a total transaction of $37,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 433,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,135,175. This represents a 0.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven D. Mcdonald sold 1,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.51, for a total transaction of $40,008.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 315,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,787,071.81. This represents a 0.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 2,432 shares of company stock worth $45,616. 11.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Systematic Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $4,842,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Community West Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $847,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 228.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 15,343 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 28,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 120,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,221,000 after purchasing an additional 23,738 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Community West Bancshares Company Profile

Community West Bancshares operates as the bank holding company for Community West Bank, N.A. that provides various financial products and services in California. The company offers deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and fixed rate and fixed maturity certificates of deposits; and cash management products.