Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Share Price Breaks Below 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.08 and traded as low as $25.82. Community West Bancshares shares last traded at $25.88, with a volume of 114,117 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CWBC. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Community West Bancshares from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Benchmark upgraded Community West Bancshares to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.83.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $702.38 million, a P/E ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $58.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.79 million. On average, research analysts predict that Community West Bancshares will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Community West Bancshares by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares during the second quarter valued at about $311,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares in the second quarter valued at about $485,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 6.3% in the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 10,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Community West Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $4,039,000. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Community West Bancshares

Community West Bancshares is a California bank holding company and the parent of Community West Bank. The bank provides commercial and personal banking services, including deposit accounts, cash management, and lending for businesses and individuals. Its lending activities include commercial and commercial real estate loans, agricultural financing, Small Business Administration lending, and residential mortgage loans. Community West Bank serves communities across California’s Central Coast and Central Valley.