Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Short Interest Update

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 116,400 shares, a decrease of 17.0% from the March 31st total of 140,200 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 51,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Community West Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Community West Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Community West Bancshares Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ CWBC traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.80. The company had a trading volume of 8,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,619. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.96. Community West Bancshares has a 52-week low of $15.57 and a 52-week high of $22.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $339.19 million, a P/E ratio of 34.22 and a beta of 0.76.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $34.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.05 million. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 7.90%. Sell-side analysts predict that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Community West Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.85%.

Insider Activity at Community West Bancshares

In other news, CEO James J. Kim purchased 1,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $27,776.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,044,690.08. This represents a 2.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Martin E. Plourd sold 7,732 shares of Community West Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.26, for a total transaction of $148,918.32. Following the sale, the president now owns 82,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,593,514.62. This represents a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 8,806 shares of company stock valued at $156,205. Corporate insiders own 10.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Community West Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Community West Bancshares by 267.3% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,015 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 5,105 shares during the period. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.