Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Hovde Group raised their price target on Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bankwell Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.50.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

Bankwell Financial Group stock opened at $66.86 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $56.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.83. Bankwell Financial Group has a one year low of $38.25 and a one year high of $67.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $532.87 million, a PE ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 0.61.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $32.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.63 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 19.80%. As a group, research analysts expect that Bankwell Financial Group will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bankwell Financial Group

In other Bankwell Financial Group news, Director Lawrence B. Seidman bought 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $51.87 per share, for a total transaction of $171,171.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 218,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,346,873.72. The trade was a 1.53% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eric J. Dale bought 588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $53.70 per share, with a total value of $31,575.60. Following the purchase, the director owned 42,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,282,035.20. This represents a 1.40% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 7,156 shares of company stock worth $370,525 and sold 8,909 shares worth $476,575. Corporate insiders own 20.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bankwell Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 585.0% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 685 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 38.8% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,124 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 523.4% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the first quarter worth $146,000. 35.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Bankwell Financial Group

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut, and serves as the parent company of Bankwell Bank. Bankwell Bank provides commercial, business and personal banking services, with branch locations primarily across Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut, along with a New York presence.

The company’s deposit offerings include checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit, all supported by an online and mobile banking platform for convenient account access.