Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) to Issue $0.20 Quarterly Dividend

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share by the bank on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th.

Bankwell Financial Group has increased its dividend by an average of 7.7% per year over the last three years. Bankwell Financial Group has a dividend payout ratio of 17.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock opened at $30.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.38. Bankwell Financial Group has a 1 year low of $22.47 and a 1 year high of $35.25. The stock has a market cap of $241.70 million, a PE ratio of 15.77 and a beta of 0.88.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.33). Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.74% and a net margin of 7.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bankwell Financial Group

In related news, Director Darryl Demos bought 2,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $32.61 per share, for a total transaction of $74,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,156 shares in the company, valued at $265,967.16. This trade represents a 39.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Steven H. Brunner sold 1,330 shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.98, for a total transaction of $43,863.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,005.96. This trade represents a 30.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 2,975 shares of company stock valued at $97,217. Corporate insiders own 19.20% of the company’s stock.

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.