Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . 36,508 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the previous session’s volume of 51,657 shares.The stock last traded at $66.7790 and had previously closed at $67.39.

Key Headlines Impacting Bankwell Financial Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Bankwell Financial Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director Lawrence Seidman purchased 5,266 shares at an average price of $66.94, investing approximately $352,506 and increasing his position by 2.39%. SEC filing
• Positive Sentiment: Directors Carl Porto, Blake Drexler, Jeffrey Dunne and Eric Dale also bought shares at approximately $67.11 each. Their purchases totaled 1,234 shares, or roughly $82,814, further reinforcing the positive insider-buying signal. Carl Porto SEC filing Blake Drexler SEC filing Jeffrey Dunne SEC filing Eric Dale SEC filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BWFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research raised Bankwell Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Hovde Group increased their target price on 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bankwell Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.50.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.88. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $531.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.58.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $30.63 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bankwell Financial Group news, Director Eric Dale purchased 530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $67.11 per share, for a total transaction of $35,568.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 43,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,887,474.86. The trade was a 1.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Hildebrand sold 2,246 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.74, for a total transaction of $149,898.04. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 19,040 shares of company stock valued at $1,269,057. 20.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 111.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,342 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 21,786 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $1,287,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $1,891,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,974,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Bankwell Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,377,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

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.