Robert Bartlein Buys 1,000 Shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Stock

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Director Robert Bartlein bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.80 per share, with a total value of $18,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 434,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,175,668.80. This trade represents a 0.23 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Community West Bancshares Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Community West Bancshares stock opened at $18.69 on Friday. Community West Bancshares has a 1 year low of $15.50 and a 1 year high of $24.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $354.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.94 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.60.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.07). Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 7.90%. As a group, research analysts expect that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 92.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWBC. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Community West Bancshares by 1,837.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,242,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $159,665,000 after buying an additional 7,817,372 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC boosted its stake in Community West Bancshares by 8.7% in the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 1,868,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,993,000 after acquiring an additional 149,506 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Community West Bancshares in the third quarter worth $847,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Community West Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $725,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 689,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,358,000 after purchasing an additional 35,509 shares in the last quarter. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Community West Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Community West Bancshares from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

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.