Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Short Interest Update

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 328,000 shares, a drop of 7.5% from the August 31st total of 354,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 66,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Patrick A. Luis sold 1,650 shares of Community West Bancshares stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.37, for a total transaction of $31,960.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $534,340.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Black Maple Capital Management LP increased its stake in Community West Bancshares by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP now owns 17,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in Community West Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $82,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Community West Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $106,000. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Community West Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $226,000. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Community West Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $268,000. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Community West Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CWBC traded down $0.25 on Tuesday, hitting $19.01. The company had a trading volume of 26,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 50,943. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Community West Bancshares has a 52-week low of $13.55 and a 52-week high of $24.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.77 and a 200 day moving average of $18.33. The company has a market cap of $358.72 million, a PE ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 0.87.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.42. The business had revenue of $30.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.14 million. Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 7.51%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CWBC. StockNews.com cut Community West Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Community West Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.33.

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.