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 December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 178,200 shares, a drop of 14.5% from the December 15th total of 208,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 48,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Bartlein acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.75 per share, for a total transaction of $37,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 433,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,135,175. This represents a 0.46 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven D. Mcdonald sold 9,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.51, for a total value of $196,924.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 317,391 shares in the company, valued at $6,827,080.41. This trade represents a 2.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 2,432 shares of company stock worth $45,616. 11.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community West Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CWBC. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 228.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 15,343 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 389,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,499,000 after acquiring an additional 24,294 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,852,000 after acquiring an additional 28,695 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in Community West Bancshares by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 292,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,640,000 after acquiring an additional 31,075 shares during the period. Finally, Fourthstone LLC lifted its holdings in Community West Bancshares by 8.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Community West Bancshares from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Community West Bancshares Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:CWBC opened at $18.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $358.16 million, a PE ratio of 28.64 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Community West Bancshares has a 12 month low of $15.50 and a 12 month high of $24.47. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.71.

Community West Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.73%.

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.