Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Stock

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 7.58% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Community West Bancshares Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Community West Bancshares stock opened at $20.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $389.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Community West Bancshares has a 12-month low of $15.57 and a 12-month high of $22.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $18.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.45.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.08). Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.99% and a net margin of 13.88%. The firm had revenue of $35.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.90 million. On average, analysts forecast that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Community West Bancshares

In other Community West Bancshares news, Director Robert Bartlein bought 2,001 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.19 per share, for a total transaction of $34,397.19. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 440,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,578,675.63. This represents a 0.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 4,368 shares of company stock valued at $74,935. Company insiders own 10.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Community West Bancshares by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 689,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,358,000 after buying an additional 35,509 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in Community West Bancshares by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 302,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,589,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Cutler Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Community West Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,995,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 70.4% during the 1st 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, Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 118,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,300,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares during the last quarter. 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.