Short Interest in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) Expands By 225.0%

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 150,800 shares, a growth of 225.0% from the March 31st total of 46,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 46,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CWBC stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $17.83. The company had a trading volume of 21,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,003. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.22. Community West Bancshares has a 52-week low of $12.59 and a 52-week high of $24.47. The stock has a market cap of $158.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.19). Community West Bancshares had a net margin of 20.04% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The company had revenue of $11.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.60 million. Research analysts anticipate that Community West Bancshares will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community West Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Community West Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Community West Bancshares’s payout ratio is 25.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on CWBC shares. TheStreet lowered Community West Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Community West Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Community West Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.33.

Institutional Trading of Community West Bancshares

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Community West Bancshares stock. Black Maple Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 0.20% of Community West Bancshares worth $304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.