Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $69.59 and last traded at $68.8260, with a volume of 4495 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Bankwell Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.50.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Up 0.1%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $544.17 million, a PE ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.61.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.23. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The business had revenue of $32.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.63 million. Equities research analysts predict that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Activity at Bankwell Financial Group

In other news, Director Eric J. Dale bought 588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $53.70 per share, with a total value of $31,575.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 42,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,282,035.20. This represents a 1.40% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lawrence B. Seidman bought 3,300 shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $51.87 per share, for a total transaction of $171,171.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 218,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,346,873.72. The trade was a 1.53% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 7,156 shares of company stock worth $370,525. Company insiders own 20.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 319,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,489,000 after buying an additional 4,795 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 5.4% in the second 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. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 115,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,302,000 after buying an additional 6,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GM Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 106,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,167,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in 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 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.