Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Director James Lokey Acquires 500 Shares

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Director James Lokey acquired 500 shares of Community West Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.29 per share, for a total transaction of $11,645.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 15,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,425.75. The trade was a 3.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Community West Bancshares Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:CWBC opened at $23.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $459.27 million, a P/E ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 0.92. Community West Bancshares has a 12-month low of $15.57 and a 12-month high of $24.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.11% and a net margin of 19.45%.The company had revenue of $38.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.38 million. Analysts predict that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Community West Bancshares by 75.6% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 10,961 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 7.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,633 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 110.8% during the second quarter. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 25,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 13,560 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $485,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Community West Bancshares by 46.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 25,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 8,173 shares during the period. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CWBC. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Community West Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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, December 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $24.33.

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.