Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Short Interest Down 6.8% in October

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 226,800 shares, a decline of 6.8% from the October 15th total of 243,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 37,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CWBC shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Community West Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Community West Bancshares

In other news, Director Robert Bartlein acquired 2,000 shares of Community West Bancshares stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.75 per share, with a total value of $37,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 433,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,135,175. The trade was a 0.46 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 2,550 shares of company stock valued at $46,097. Corporate insiders own 11.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWBC. Fourthstone LLC increased its position in shares of Community West Bancshares by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 1,868,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,993,000 after purchasing an additional 149,506 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Community West Bancshares by 284.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 641,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,864,000 after buying an additional 474,671 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 5.3% during the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 557,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,313,000 after buying an additional 27,967 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Community West Bancshares by 6.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 389,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,499,000 after acquiring an additional 24,294 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Community West Bancshares by 198.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 365,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,770,000 after acquiring an additional 243,165 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CWBC stock opened at $20.71 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.28 and a 200-day moving average of $18.78. Community West Bancshares has a one year low of $15.50 and a one year high of $24.47. The company has a market cap of $392.45 million, a P/E ratio of 31.36 and a beta of 0.87.

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 72.73%.

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.