Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Director James Lokey Purchases 500 Shares

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Director James Lokey acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.29 per share, with a total value of $11,645.00. Following the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CWBC traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.00. 81,555 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 107,089. Community West Bancshares has a twelve month low of $15.57 and a twelve month high of $24.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $459.74 million, a P/E ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.54.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $38.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.38 million. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 10.11%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Community West Bancshares by 623.7% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Community West Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $46,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 255.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Community West Bancshares by 75.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 2,945.9% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270 shares in the last quarter. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Community West Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.33.

Community West Bancshares Company Profile

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.