Insider Buying: Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) CEO Buys 1,089 Shares of Stock

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) CEO James Kim bought 1,089 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.65 per share, for a total transaction of $22,487.85. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 58,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,215,231.85. This trade represents a 1.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CWBC traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.42. 155,253 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 151,391. Community West Bancshares has a 1 year low of $15.57 and a 1 year high of $25.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.28. The stock has a market cap of $448.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.91.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $38.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.38 million. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 10.11%. Equities analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 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, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is 24.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in Community West Bancshares by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 12,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 28,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Community West Bancshares by 623.7% in 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 in the last quarter. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CWBC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research cut Community West Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Community West Bancshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.