Insider Buying: Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Buys $31,575.60 in Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Eric Dale bought 588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $53.70 per share, for a total transaction of $31,575.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 42,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,282,035.20. The trade was a 1.40% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of BWFG opened at $55.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $439.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.62. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.85 and a 1-year high of $56.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $30.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.47 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 13.31%. On average, research analysts forecast that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 16.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bankwell Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 585.0% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 685 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased 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 purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $63,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 523.4% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,995 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the first quarter valued at $146,000. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bankwell Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

Bankwell Financial Group Company Profile

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.