Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Lawrence Seidman Purchases 2,540 Shares of Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Lawrence Seidman acquired 2,540 shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $65.92 per share, with a total value of $167,436.80. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 223,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,745,249.28. This trade represents a 1.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Down 0.2%

Bankwell Financial Group stock opened at $65.65 on Thursday. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.44 and a 52 week high of $69.59. The stock has a market cap of $523.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.23. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $32.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.63 million. On average, analysts expect that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $28,974,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 366,963 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,238,000 after purchasing an additional 13,823 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 319,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,489,000 after purchasing an additional 4,795 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 5.4% in the 2nd 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 grew its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 115,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,302,000 after purchasing an additional 6,138 shares during the period. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BWFG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Bankwell Financial Group from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded 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 given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bankwell Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.50.

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.