Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

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, above the reported $26.29 share price.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.45, beating the $0.30 analyst consensus, although revenue of $54.3 million fell short of the $55.65 million estimate.
• Insider and institutional activity was positive: a director purchased 4,770 shares, while several investment firms initiated or increased positions. Community West also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.12, representing a 1.8% annualized yield.

Shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.1667.

CWBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Community West Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Friday, July 10th.

Insider Transactions at Community West Bancshares

In other Community West Bancshares news, Director Jagroop Gill purchased 4,770 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.88 per share, for a total transaction of $118,677.60. Following the acquisition, the director owned 588,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,631,106.96. This represents a 0.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders purchased 5,374 shares of company stock valued at $133,078 over the last quarter. 9.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Community West Bancshares

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CWBC. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $311,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Community West Bancshares during the second quarter worth $485,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Community West Bancshares by 6.3% during the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 10,462 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Community West Bancshares in the second quarter worth $4,039,000. Finally, Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Community West Bancshares in the second quarter worth $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.80% of the company's stock.

Community West Bancshares Trading Up 1.1%

CWBC opened at $26.29 on Friday. Community West Bancshares has a twelve month low of $19.78 and a twelve month high of $28.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.17 and a 200-day moving average of $24.77. The stock has a market cap of $713.25 million, a PE ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 0.81.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.15. The business 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, sell-side analysts predict that Community West Bancshares will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

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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