Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Bankwell Financial Group from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Hovde Group raised their target price on Bankwell Financial Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bankwell Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BWFG opened at $52.16 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $49.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.47. Bankwell Financial Group has a 1-year low of $33.20 and a 1-year high of $53.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $415.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.63.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.18. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The firm had revenue of $30.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.47 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bankwell Financial Group will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is 16.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bankwell Financial Group

In other news, CEO Christopher R. Gruseke sold 5,056 shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.79, for a total transaction of $251,738.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 172,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,571,199.13. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Courtney E. Sacchetti sold 1,062 shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.79, for a total value of $52,876.98. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 3,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,377.79. This trade represents a 24.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 26,816 shares of company stock worth $1,256,874 and have sold 11,897 shares worth $592,523. Corporate insiders own 20.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 366,963 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,238,000 after buying an additional 13,823 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 314,446 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,409,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 159,384 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,744,000 after buying an additional 8,178 shares during the last quarter. Siena Capital Partners GP LLC raised its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Siena Capital Partners GP LLC now owns 116,138 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,139,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 115,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,302,000 after purchasing an additional 6,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

About Bankwell Financial Group

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Westchester, Illinois, and serves as the parent of Bankwell Bank. Through its subsidiary, the company provides a full suite of banking products and services designed for both individual consumers and small? to mid?sized businesses. Bankwell Bank operates multiple branches across suburban Cook and Lake counties, focusing on personalized service and local decision?making.

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.