Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Buys 5,266 Shares

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Lawrence Seidman bought 5,266 shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.94 per share, for a total transaction of $352,506.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 225,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,104,341.60. The trade was a 2.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock traded up $0.89 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $67.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 33,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,177. The stock has a market cap of $534.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.58. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.44 and a 52 week high of $69.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $32.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.63 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 19.80%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BWFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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, July 28th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bankwell Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 585.0% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 685 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,124 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 523.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,995 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

Bankwell Financial Group Company Profile

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.