Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Short Interest Down 11.9% in February

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 129,900 shares, a decrease of 11.9% from the January 31st total of 147,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 50,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on CWBC. StockNews.com raised Community West Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Community West Bancshares from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Activity at Community West Bancshares

In related news, CEO James J. Kim acquired 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.36 per share, with a total value of $27,776.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,044,690.08. This trade represents a 2.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Steven D. Mcdonald sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.51, for a total value of $40,008.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 315,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,787,071.81. The trade was a 0.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 4,748 shares of company stock worth $85,887 and have sold 18,747 shares worth $385,851. 11.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 23,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 48,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Community West Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CWBC opened at $18.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $350.69 million, a PE ratio of 35.60 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.61. Community West Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $14.52 and a fifty-two week high of $24.47.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.07). Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.90% and a net margin of 4.59%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is 92.31%.

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.