Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Buys $666,300.00 in Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Lawrence Seidman acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.63 per share, with a total value of $666,300.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 222,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,837,834.70. This trade represents a 4.70% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BWFG opened at $67.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $541.88 million, a P/E ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.37. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.53 and a twelve month high of $69.59.

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

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BWFG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,974,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 366,963 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,238,000 after purchasing an additional 13,823 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 319,241 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,489,000 after purchasing an additional 4,795 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 159,384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,178 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 115,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,302,000 after purchasing an additional 6,138 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BWFG. Zacks Research raised shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings cut Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Bankwell Financial Group from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.