Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires New Position in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 37,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $725,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.20% of Community West Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CWBC. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. US Bancorp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Community West Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 21,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,430 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 228.5% in 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. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Community West Bancshares by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 23,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Community West Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CWBC opened at $18.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.46. Community West Bancshares has a twelve month low of $14.99 and a twelve month high of $24.47. The company has a market capitalization of $341.03 million, a P/E ratio of 34.62 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Community West Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Community West Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.31%.

Insider Transactions at Community West Bancshares

In other news, President Martin E. Plourd sold 7,732 shares of Community West Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.26, for a total transaction of $148,918.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 82,737 shares in the company, valued at $1,593,514.62. The trade was a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James J. Kim purchased 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.36 per share, with a total value of $27,776.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 60,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,044,690.08. This represents a 2.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 5,748 shares of company stock worth $103,747 over the last ninety days. 11.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Community West Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Community West Bancshares from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Community West Bancshares 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.