Community West Bancshares (CWBC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.12 on February 21st

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 22nd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.12 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th.

Community West Bancshares has raised its dividend by an average of 27.5% per year over the last three years. Community West Bancshares has a dividend payout ratio of 20.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Community West Bancshares to earn $2.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.9%.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Community West Bancshares stock opened at $19.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Community West Bancshares has a 1 year low of $15.50 and a 1 year high of $24.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.71. The firm has a market cap of $371.31 million, a PE ratio of 37.55 and a beta of 0.91.

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.07). Community West Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.90% and a net margin of 4.59%. Equities analysts forecast that Community West Bancshares will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven D. Mcdonald sold 1,860 shares of Community West Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.51, for a total transaction of $40,008.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 315,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,787,071.81. This trade represents a 0.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders acquired 432 shares of company stock valued at $8,116 in the last three months. 11.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CWBC. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Community West Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on 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.

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.