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

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) shares 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Community West Bancshares Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $690.17 million, a PE ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.03.

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

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Community West Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWBC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $64,110,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 275.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,516,000 after buying an additional 833,312 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 840,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,582,000 after buying an additional 38,044 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $9,091,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $4,039,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Community West Bancshares Company Profile

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.