Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Stock Price Breaks Below 50-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.04 and traded as low as $25.94. Community West Bancshares shares last traded at $26.02, with a volume of 144,909 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CWBC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their target price on Community West Bancshares from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Community West Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Community West Bancshares to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.83.

Community West Bancshares Trading Down 1.3%

The firm has a market cap of $705.92 million, a PE ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.93.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 11.14%. The firm had revenue of $57.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.79 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Community West Bancshares will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jagroop Gill acquired 4,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.88 per share, for a total transaction of $118,677.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 588,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,631,106.96. This represents a 0.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 5,374 shares of company stock worth $133,078. 9.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Community West Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,039,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 275.2% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,136,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,516,000 after buying an additional 833,312 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $64,110,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $2,601,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Community West Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $9,091,000. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Community West Bancshares Company Profile

Community West Bancshares is a bank holding company headquartered in Goleta, California. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Community West Bank, the company provides banking and financial services primarily to businesses, professionals, nonprofit organizations and individuals.

Community West Bank offers commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate loans, construction financing, Small Business Administration lending and residential mortgage products. Its deposit and business banking services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, online banking, cash management and other treasury management solutions.

The company serves customers through offices and banking operations focused on California’s Central Coast, including the Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo areas.