Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Community West Bancshares, with three buy ratings and two holds. The average 12-month price target is $28.17, implying upside from the reported $26.11 opening price.
• The company’s latest quarterly earnings beat expectations, reporting $0.45 in earnings per share versus the $0.30 consensus estimate, although revenue of $54.3 million came in below forecasts.
• Community West Bancshares declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, equivalent to $0.48 annually and a 1.8% yield. Insider buying has also continued, with directors purchasing more than 5,000 shares over the past 90 days.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.1667.

CWBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Community West Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CWBC opened at $26.11 on Monday. Community West Bancshares has a 1 year low of $19.78 and a 1 year high of $28.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $708.36 million, a PE ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.55.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $54.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.65 million. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 16.86% and a return on equity of 10.12%. On average, analysts predict that Community West Bancshares will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Community West Bancshares's payout ratio is 25.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Community West Bancshares news, Director Jagroop Gill acquired 4,770 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.88 per share, with a total value of $118,677.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 588,067 shares in the company, valued at $14,631,106.96. The trade was a 0.82% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 5,287 shares of company stock worth $130,256. Corporate insiders own 9.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWBC. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in Community West Bancshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 623.7% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,983 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 75.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. 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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