Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 192,900 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the May 31st total of 182,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 59,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ CWBC opened at $18.15 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $17.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $342.49 million, a P/E ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. Community West Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $13.55 and a fifty-two week high of $24.47.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.15). Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 20.04% and a return on equity of 11.29%. The business had revenue of $20.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.67 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Community West Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Community West Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Insider Transactions at Community West Bancshares

In other Community West Bancshares news, EVP Anthony Kenneth Ramos bought 13,400 shares of Community West Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.25 per share, with a total value of $231,150.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $386,072.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders acquired a total of 14,881 shares of company stock valued at $256,663 in the last three months. 11.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Community West Bancshares stock. Black Maple Capital Management LP lifted its position in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.20% of Community West Bancshares worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on CWBC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Community West Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Community West Bancshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.33.

About Community West Bancshares

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.