Christine Chivily Sells 2,553 Shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) EVP Christine Chivily sold 2,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.52, for a total value of $116,212.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 13,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,503.28. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BWFG traded up $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.48. The company had a trading volume of 13,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,014. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.39 and a fifty-two week high of $48.03.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.25. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The firm had revenue of $27.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.26 million.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BWFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Bankwell Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Bankwell Financial Group from $38.50 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.50.

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 722 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 71.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey acquired a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $63,000. 35.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bankwell Financial Group

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.