Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $28.17

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: Six analysts give Community West Bancshares a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with an average 1-year price target of $28.17 versus the stock’s reported $26.58 price.
• Institutional and insider interest has increased: BlackRock opened a position, Wellington Management expanded its holdings by 275.2%, and insiders purchased additional shares. Institutions own 33.80% of the company, while insiders own 9.03%.
• Quarterly earnings beat expectations: The company reported adjusted EPS of $0.45, exceeding the $0.30 consensus estimate, while revenue came in at $54.30 million. Community West also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, yielding about 1.8% annually.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.17.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CWBC shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Benchmark raised Community West Bancshares to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Community West Bancshares

In other Community West Bancshares news, Director Jagroop Gill purchased 4,770 shares of Community West Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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. This trade represents a 0.82% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 5,374 shares of company stock valued at $133,078. Company insiders own 9.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWBC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Community West Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,110,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 275.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,516,000 after buying an additional 833,312 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Community West Bancshares by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 840,454 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,582,000 after buying an additional 38,044 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Community West Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,091,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Community West Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $4,039,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.80% of the company's stock.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

CWBC stock opened at $26.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.13. Community West Bancshares has a 1-year low of $19.78 and a 1-year high of $28.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $721.12 million, a PE ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 0.82.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $54.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.65 million. Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 16.86%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Community West Bancshares will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Community West Bancshares Company Profile

Community West Bancshares NASDAQ: CWBC is a bank holding company headquartered in Goleta, California. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Community West Bank, the company provides banking services to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and professional practices.

Community West Bank focuses on relationship-based commercial banking and offers business checking and savings accounts, commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate loans, construction financing, small business loans, agricultural lending, residential real estate loans and consumer banking products.

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