Short Interest in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Expands By 225.0%

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 150,800 shares, an increase of 225.0% from the March 31st total of 46,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 46,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CWBC. TheStreet cut shares of Community West Bancshares from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Community West Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.33.

Institutional Trading of Community West Bancshares

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Community West Bancshares stock. Black Maple Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Free Report) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,475 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,417 shares during the period. Black Maple Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.20% of Community West Bancshares worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.80% of the company's stock.

Community West Bancshares Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ CWBC traded down $0.17 on Friday, hitting $17.83. 21,241 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 43,003. 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 fifty day moving average price of $16.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.87 million, a P/E ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 0.85. Community West Bancshares has a 52-week low of $12.59 and a 52-week high of $24.47.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $11.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.60 million. Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 20.04%. Research analysts forecast that Community West Bancshares will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This is an increase from Community West Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Community West Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

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.

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