Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Trims Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Target Price to $22.00

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) had its price target lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

CWBC has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com began coverage on Community West Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. They issued a hold rating for the company. TheStreet downgraded shares of Community West Bancshares from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $20.33.

Community West Bancshares Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Community West Bancshares stock opened at $17.62 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.11. Community West Bancshares has a 52-week low of $12.59 and a 52-week high of $24.47. 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 $156.99 million, a PE ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 0.85.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.19). Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 20.04% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business had revenue of $11.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.60 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. This is a positive change from Community West Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Community West Bancshares stock. Black Maple Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 0.20% of Community West Bancshares worth $304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.