Community West Bancshares $CWBC Shares Sold by PL Capital Advisors LLC

PL Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) by 22.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 329,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 96,000 shares during the quarter. Community West Bancshares accounts for about 2.3% of PL Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. PL Capital Advisors LLC owned 1.72% of Community West Bancshares worth $7,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Community West Bancshares by 623.7% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $46,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 75.5% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 2,945.9% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Community West Bancshares Price Performance

Community West Bancshares stock opened at $24.12 on Thursday. Community West Bancshares has a 12-month low of $17.55 and a 12-month high of $25.72. The stock has a market cap of $654.38 million, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.05. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $38.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.23 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CWBC shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Community West Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Community West Bancshares from $30.00 to $30.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Community West Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.17.

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.