Jeffrey Dunne Acquires 363 Shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Jeffrey Dunne purchased 363 shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $47.64 per share, with a total value of $17,293.32. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,448 shares in the company, valued at $259,542.72. The trade was a 7.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Performance

Bankwell Financial Group stock traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $47.66. 4,975 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,411. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $375.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 0.71. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.39 and a 12-month high of $48.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.87.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $28.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.26 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.18%.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BWFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bankwell Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3.9% in 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 313,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,860,000 after purchasing an additional 10,891 shares during the period. Fourthstone LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 60.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 266,865 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,615,000 after purchasing an additional 100,302 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 valued at $5,744,000 after buying an additional 8,178 shares during the period. Finally, Siena Capital Partners GP LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Siena Capital Partners GP LLC now owns 116,138 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,139,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares during the last quarter. 35.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bankwell Financial Group Company Profile

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Bankwell Bank that provides various banking services for individual and commercial customers. It offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides first mortgage loans secured by one-to-four family owner occupied residential properties for personal use; home equity loans and home equity lines of credit secured by owner occupied one-to-four family residential properties; loans secured by commercial real estate, multi-family dwellings, owner-occupied commercial real estate, and investor-owned one-to-four family dwellings; commercial construction loans for commercial development projects, including apartment buildings and condominiums, as well as office buildings, retail, and other income producing properties; land loans; commercial business loans secured by assignments of corporate assets and personal guarantees of the business owners; loans to finance insurance premiums; overdraft lines of credit; and unsecured personal loans.