Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.6667.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CWBC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded Community West Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd.

Community West Bancshares Trading Up 4.3%

CWBC opened at $22.23 on Friday. Community West Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $15.57 and a fifty-two week high of $22.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $425.88 million, a PE ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $21.13 and its 200 day moving average is $20.08.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $37.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.75 million. Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 17.49%. As a group, research analysts predict that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Community West Bancshares by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 786,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,381,000 after buying an additional 17,244 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 2.0% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 308,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,016,000 after acquiring an additional 5,940 shares during the period. Cutler Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Community West Bancshares during the first quarter worth $2,995,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Community West Bancshares by 70.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 152,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 62,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Community West Bancshares by 418.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 63,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 50,889 shares during the period. 33.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.