Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Monday.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Community West Bancshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday. TheStreet lowered shares of Community West Bancshares from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Community West Bancshares currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.33.

Community West Bancshares Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ CWBC opened at $18.00 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 0.85. Community West Bancshares has a 52 week low of $12.59 and a 52 week high of $24.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $16.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.18.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $11.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.60 million. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 20.04% and a return on equity of 11.58%. On average, analysts predict that Community West Bancshares will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Community West Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Community West Bancshares stock. Black Maple Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,417 shares during the quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP owned about 0.20% of Community West Bancshares worth $304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 33.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Community West Bancshares Company Profile

Community West Bancshares operates as the bank holding company for Community West Bank, N.A. that provides various financial products and services in California. The company offers deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and fixed rate and fixed maturity certificates of deposits; and cash management products.