Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

CWBC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Community West Bancshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Community West Bancshares has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.33.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CWBC opened at $22.05 on Wednesday. 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 $422.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.10. Community West Bancshares has a one year low of $15.57 and a one year high of $24.36.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company had revenue of $37.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.75 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 26.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWBC. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $210,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth $591,000. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC boosted 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. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Community West Bancshares by 7.9% in the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 49,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $971,000 after buying an additional 3,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Community West Bancshares by 42.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 6,369 shares during the last quarter. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.