Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Rating Lowered to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Bankwell Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ BWFG opened at $35.33 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Bankwell Financial Group has a 1-year low of $22.80 and a 1-year high of $36.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $278.05 million, a P/E ratio of 22.50 and a beta of 0.67.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $23.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.63 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.60% and a net margin of 6.33%.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.96%.

Insider Activity

In other Bankwell Financial Group news, EVP Steven H. Brunner sold 807 shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.36, for a total value of $26,921.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,548 shares in the company, valued at $51,641.28. The trade was a 34.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have bought a total of 1,306 shares of company stock worth $46,585 over the last quarter. 19.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BWFG. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 3,002.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 655.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,564 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $104,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $148,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $204,000. 35.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bankwell Financial Group Company Profile

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Bankwell Bank that provides various banking services for individual and commercial customers. It offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides first mortgage loans secured by one-to-four family owner occupied residential properties for personal use; home equity loans and home equity lines of credit secured by owner occupied one-to-four family residential properties; loans secured by commercial real estate, multi-family dwellings, owner-occupied commercial real estate, and investor-owned one-to-four family dwellings; commercial construction loans for commercial development projects, including apartment buildings and condominiums, as well as office buildings, retail, and other income producing properties; land loans; commercial business loans secured by assignments of corporate assets and personal guarantees of the business owners; loans to finance insurance premiums; overdraft lines of credit; and unsecured personal loans.