Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $27.45 and last traded at $27.45, with a volume of 91447 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CWBC. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Community West Bancshares from $30.00 to $30.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research report on Friday, March 27th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Community West Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued 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 $28.17.

Community West Bancshares Trading Up 2.4%

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $24.51 and its 200-day moving average is $23.79. The company has a market cap of $746.08 million, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $38.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.23 million. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Research analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWBC. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 43,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 5,364 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 33.2% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 26,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 6,515 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares during the first quarter valued at $578,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 90.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 70,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after buying an additional 33,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 159.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 70,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after buying an additional 43,590 shares during the last quarter. 33.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.