Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Stock Price Passes Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG)’s stock price passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.08 and traded as high as $51.54. Bankwell Financial Group shares last traded at $51.44, with a volume of 137,327 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Bankwell Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.50.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Up 3.1%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.69. The stock has a market cap of $405.19 million, a PE ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

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

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christine Chivily sold 2,553 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.52, for a total value of $116,212.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,503.28. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric J. Dale acquired 746 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $47.64 per share, with a total value of $35,539.44. Following the purchase, the director owned 41,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,967,341.44. The trade was a 1.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 2,208 shares of company stock worth $105,212 over the last quarter. 19.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BWFG. Fourthstone LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 100,302 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,280,000. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $759,000. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $695,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 13,823 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

About Bankwell Financial Group

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.