Insider Buying: Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Director Acquires $11,645.00 in Stock

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Director James Lokey purchased 500 shares of Community West Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.29 per share, for a total transaction of $11,645.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,175 shares in the company, valued at $353,425.75. This represents a 3.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Community West Bancshares Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ CWBC opened at $23.97 on Monday. Community West Bancshares has a 1-year low of $15.57 and a 1-year high of $24.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.58. The company has a market cap of $459.27 million, a PE ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 10.11%. The business had revenue of $38.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.38 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 24.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 75.6% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 10,961 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 49,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 3,633 shares during the period. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Community West Bancshares by 110.8% in the second quarter. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 25,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 13,560 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 2,945.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 3,270 shares during the period. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $267,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Community West Bancshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Community West Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $24.33.

About Community West Bancshares

Community West Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Community West Bank, headquartered in Goleta, California. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company offers a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services. Community West Bancshares focuses on providing personalized financial solutions to small and mid-sized businesses, professional practices, and individual customers in its service area.

The company’s product portfolio includes a variety of deposit accounts—such as business checking, savings and money market accounts—along with online and mobile banking capabilities.