Carl Porto Purchases 370 Shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Carl Porto acquired 370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $53.70 per share, for a total transaction of $19,869.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 22,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,185,159. The trade was a 1.71% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Up 1.8%

BWFG traded up $0.97 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $54.97. 5,166 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,974. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $51.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.96. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.85 and a fifty-two week high of $55.68. The stock has a market cap of $438.11 million, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.62.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.18. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $30.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.47 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.06%.

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 585.0% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 685 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 38.8% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,124 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $63,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 523.4% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on BWFG shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bankwell Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

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.