Eric Dale Purchases 530 Shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Eric Dale purchased 530 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.11 per share, with a total value of $35,568.30. Following the acquisition, the director owned 43,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,887,474.86. This represents a 1.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Performance

BWFG opened at $67.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $539.17 million, a P/E ratio of 12.64 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $64.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.02. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.44 and a 52-week high of $69.59.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.23. The company 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,974,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 366,963 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,238,000 after acquiring an additional 13,823 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 319,241 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,489,000 after acquiring an additional 4,795 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 115,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,302,000 after acquiring an additional 6,138 shares in the last quarter. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BWFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Bankwell Financial Group from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research upgraded Bankwell Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $67.50.

Bankwell Financial Group News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Director Lawrence Seidman purchased 5,266 shares for approximately $352,506, increasing his stake by 2.39%. The sizable purchase may signal confidence in BWFG’s valuation and outlook. SEC filing
• Positive Sentiment: Four additional directors—Carl Porto, Blake Drexler, Jeffrey Dunne and Eric Dale—bought a combined 1,234 shares for approximately $82,814 at prices near $67.11. The coordinated purchases reinforce the positive insider-buying signal. Insider trading article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest was zero shares as of September 10, unchanged from the prior reported total of zero. The resulting 0.0-day short-interest ratio suggests limited short-selling activity, although the report’s stated percentage change is not meaningful because both figures are zero.

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.