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

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

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

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of BWFG stock opened at $35.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $276.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.72 and a 200-day moving average of $31.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Bankwell Financial Group has a 1-year low of $22.80 and a 1-year high of $36.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Steven H. Brunner sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.36, for a total transaction of $26,921.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,641.28. This trade represents a 34.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders acquired 1,306 shares of company stock valued at $46,585 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 19.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bankwell Financial Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fourthstone LLC grew its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 307.5% in the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 105,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,289,000 after acquiring an additional 79,673 shares during the period. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 174,584 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after acquiring an additional 40,458 shares during the period. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc acquired a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $682,000. GM Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 15.6% in the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 104,477 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after acquiring an additional 14,119 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 60.8% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 36,312 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 13,733 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.80% 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.