Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Lawrence Seidman Purchases 323 Shares of Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Lawrence Seidman bought 323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $53.70 per share, with a total value of $17,345.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,844 shares in the company, valued at $260,122.80. This represents a 7.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of BWFG opened at $55.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $440.82 million, a PE ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.85 and a 52-week high of $55.68.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.18. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 13.31%. The company had revenue of $30.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.47 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BWFG. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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 research report on Monday, May 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,040 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 38.8% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,124 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 106,498 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,167,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 585.0% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 685 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,262 shares of the bank’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the period. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.