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

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Lawrence Seidman acquired 2,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $65.92 per share, for a total transaction of $167,436.80. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 223,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,745,249.28. The trade was a 1.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BWFG traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 38,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,353. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $40.44 and a one year high of $69.59. The company has a market cap of $526.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.55. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $32.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.63 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 13.94%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BWFG. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 585.0% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 685 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,124 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 523.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BWFG shares. Hovde Group lifted their target price on Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Bankwell Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Wall Street Zen cut Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bankwell Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $67.50.

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.