Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Purchases $21,944.97 in Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Carl Porto acquired 327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.11 per share, with a total value of $21,944.97. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 22,397 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,062.67. This trade represents a 1.48% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of BWFG stock opened at $68.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $546.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.10. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.44 and a 1 year high of $69.59. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.23. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 19.80%.The firm had revenue of $32.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.63 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $67.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bankwell Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,974,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 366,963 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,238,000 after purchasing an additional 13,823 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 319,241 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,489,000 after purchasing an additional 4,795 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 5.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 159,384 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 115,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,302,000 after purchasing an additional 6,138 shares in the last quarter. 35.80% of the stock is currently 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.