Lawrence Seidman Purchases 10,000 Shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Lawrence Seidman acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.63 per share, for a total transaction of $666,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 222,690 shares in the company, valued at $14,837,834.70. This represents a 4.70% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock opened at $67.99 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $542.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.59. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.53 and a 1-year high of $69.59.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $32.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.63 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 13.94%. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $67.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $250,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $148,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 5.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 159,384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,178 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 15.2% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,119 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

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.