Insider Buying: Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Purchases $35,539.44 in Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Eric Dale purchased 746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $47.64 per share, for a total transaction of $35,539.44. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,967,341.44. The trade was a 1.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock opened at $48.23 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $380.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $44.30 and its 200 day moving average is $41.12. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.39 and a twelve month high of $48.95. 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 (NASDAQ:BWFG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $28.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.26 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.18%.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bankwell Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 70.7% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 722 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 585.0% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 685 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 38.8% during 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 during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 71.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey bought a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $50,000. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BWFG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.50.

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.