Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $79.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Hovde Group increased their price target on Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.00.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Performance

Bankwell Financial Group stock opened at $71.68 on Monday. Bankwell Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $42.67 and a fifty-two week high of $73.56. The company has a market capitalization of $571.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $35.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.33 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 20.49%. On average, analysts anticipate that Bankwell Financial Group will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, November 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bankwell Financial Group news, Director Eric J. Dale bought 530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.11 per share, with a total value of $35,568.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,887,474.86. This trade represents a 1.25% 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. Also, Director Lawrence B. Seidman purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.63 per share, for a total transaction of $666,300.00. Following the acquisition, 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased 19,040 shares of company stock worth $1,269,057 in the last quarter. 20.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bankwell Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $28,974,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,891,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,377,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,287,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,283,000. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.