Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.12 Per Share

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.12 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 17th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Community West Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08.

Community West Bancshares has raised its dividend by an average of 24.9% per year over the last three years. Community West Bancshares has a payout ratio of 11.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Community West Bancshares to earn $2.85 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 11.2%.

Community West Bancshares Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Community West Bancshares stock opened at $18.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Community West Bancshares has a 1 year low of $12.59 and a 1 year high of $24.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $15.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.04. The stock has a market cap of $161.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.85.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $22.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.86 million. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 20.04% and a return on equity of 11.58%. As a group, research analysts expect that Community West Bancshares will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CWBC. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. TheStreet lowered shares of Community West Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CWBC. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $214,000. First Manhattan Co. raised its position in Community West Bancshares by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 42,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 1,869 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Community West Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $165,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Community West Bancshares by 44.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 5,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Community West Bancshares by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 31,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. 33.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.