Insider Buying: Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Purchases $17,515.71 in Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Jeffrey Dunne acquired 261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $67.11 per share, with a total value of $17,515.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $428,228.91. This trade represents a 4.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

BWFG stock opened at $68.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $546.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.44 and a 12-month high of $69.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.10.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.63 million. On average, analysts expect that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $28,974,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,891,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Bankwell Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,377,000. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in Bankwell Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,287,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,283,000. 35.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their target price on Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average 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.