Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Earns Outperform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated their outperform rating on shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $34.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

BWFG opened at $29.83 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $235.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.21. Bankwell Financial Group has a 1 year low of $22.47 and a 1 year high of $31.09.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.04. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 11.76%. The company had revenue of $48.36 million for the quarter.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christine Chivily sold 1,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.88, for a total transaction of $50,602.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,838.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Bankwell Financial Group news, EVP Christine Chivily sold 1,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.88, for a total value of $50,602.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,838.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin D. Leitao bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.83 per share, with a total value of $67,075.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,075. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 2,691 shares of company stock worth $72,620 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 19.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BWFG. Bridge City Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 17.9% during the first quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 11,718 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 119.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,901 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 7.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,444 shares of the bank’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 82,813 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 329,246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,933 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

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.