Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Announces Dividend Increase - $0.12 Per Share

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.12 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 17th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Community West Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08.

Community West Bancshares has raised its dividend by an average of 24.9% per year over the last three years. Community West Bancshares has a dividend payout ratio of 11.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Community West Bancshares to earn $2.85 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 11.2%.

Community West Bancshares Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ CWBC traded down $0.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $18.10. The stock had a trading volume of 114,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 82,499. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.85. Community West Bancshares has a one year low of $12.59 and a one year high of $24.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.05.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $22.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.86 million. Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 20.04%. Sell-side analysts predict that Community West Bancshares will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada bought a new position in Community West Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $90,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Community West Bancshares in the first quarter worth $165,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Community West Bancshares in the first quarter worth $214,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. purchased a new position in Community West Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $237,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 44.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 5,343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CWBC. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Community West Bancshares from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th.

About Community West Bancshares

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.