Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $27.82 after rising about 3.1% on the day. The move came with solid volume and leaves the stock near its recent highs.
• Wall Street sentiment is generally constructive: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $28.17. Recent analyst actions included buy reiterations from Weiss Ratings and DA Davidson, while Piper Sandler lifted its target to $30.50.
• The company’s fundamentals were mixed but supportive, with Q1 earnings beating estimates on both EPS and revenue. It also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, implying a 1.7% annual yield.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $27.82 and last traded at $27.71, with a volume of 43223 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CWBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Community West Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Community West Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Community West Bancshares from $30.00 to $30.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.17.

Community West Bancshares Trading Up 3.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $759.64 million, a PE ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 0.80. The business's 50-day moving average is $25.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.07.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $38.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.23 million. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 10.44%. As a group, 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Community West Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 worth $19,582,000 after buying an additional 38,044 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 104,779 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Community West Bancshares by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 334,322 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,522,000 after acquiring an additional 16,340 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $3,758,000 after purchasing an additional 77,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 5,980 shares in 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.

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